When Mateo speaks

BY: Steve Rose, Publisher

Steve Rose, Publisher

“Mama” and ”Papa” will probably be the first words out of Mateo Rose’s mouth, when our 1-year-old grandson starts to speak. The next word is likely to be unmistakably Spanish.

Mateo is being raised to be bilingual, with a slight tilt toward Spanish. His mother, Maria, who is bilingual and is from Argentina, speaks almost totally in Spanish to Mateo. Our son, Josh, who also is bilingual, speaks to Mateo about half the time in English and half in Spanish.

So, you might conclude, they really are raising Mateo to speak Spanish as his primary language. But that would be a false conclusion.

Josh has done his research, and he knows that Mateo, raised in a bilingual home, will probably learn to speak later than most children, but when he does speak, he will speak both languages fluently. Knowing both languages is very important to both parents, but particularly to Maria, who is very proud of her Latina heritage and wants to pass it along to her son. Yet, both want their son to speak English as well as any other American child.

After all, Maria spent five years becoming an American citizen, learning the Constitution and is more knowledgeable about American history than most American-born citizens. But she also is proud to be an Argentinian.

Both parents know when Mateo starts preschool, near their home in Berkeley, Calif., and is around other kids who will be speaking only English, so will Mateo. When he is around friends who speak Spanish, he will speak Spanish with them.

Personally, I think this is pretty cool. In today’s world, and in today’s America, and particularly in today’s California, it is a great advantage to speak both languages.

That may agitate some English-first fanatics, but they are being shortsighted, and they also are over-reacting.

If there is a concern that all the Latino children raised in America with Spanish spoken in the home are going to speak Spanish as their primary language, that notion is just plain misguided.

Here are the facts:

The Pew Hispanic Center, surveying more than 14,000 Hispanic adults, found that among first-generation Latino immigrants living in America, about a fourth speak English very well.

But by the second generation, Mateo’s generation, 88 percent speak English very well, even those raised in a Spanish-only home.

And by the third generation, virtually all Latino adults speak English very well.

In Mateo’s case, where both languages are spoken in the home, there is probably a 100 percent chance that he will speak English as well as anyone reading this column.

Without any reactionary laws being passed, second-generation immigrants will learn English fluently, because they are being raised in America.