[Suki]

the power of experience. Deep cultural experiences. Some of the most eloquent and captivating speakers in the Spanish language I have ever heard in my life have been some very humble folks living on a coconut farm on an island off the coast of Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico.....I smile when I think of the commentary and the absolute perfection of expression some of them had in getting their point accross. It comes from being born and raised within their cultural schematics and landscape. But also on the other hand you have people with no education in their own language (and this includes stateside monolingual English speakers [who do not even dominate their own native language adequately much less attempt to tackle a new one])with no formal education and no interest in furthering their knowledge either being mothers and fathers to children who grow up with poor language skills in general. Fail at school and basically struggle their whole lives. Why? Parents never gave it the value it merited. Those who teach their kids that speaking, reading and writing and above all expressing their deepest feelings and thoughts with grace and eloquence is not only empowering but liberating, entertaining and fun!!!And speaking more than one is great as well!! But the individual child must choose to listen to the parents or the greater society telling the child "dump the Spanish, it is a shameful, inferior language associated with dishwashers, waiters, cooks and janitors. It will hold you back in your endeavors and dreams in the USA. English is all you need for success."

IF you got really cool parents like I did. They do not listen to the rhetoric spouted by the majority. No, they do not. They instead say "not only is Spanish great and intellectual and fun, but it can express things English can not! And do not stop with just English and Spanish....keep on going till you drop from language practice exhaustion and bend that mind until it is limber and flexible like a bamboo sapling!"

Long live the working man who like my parents come from humble origins, figure out the lies, confront the liars and educate themselves and make a smoothly paved road for their kids.

Que Vivan!

Suki.