The English language is the operating system for the world, in my opinion. Any attempt to try to work around this reality is wrongheaded and foolhardy.  Only in America have we decided to do this with the various efforts at bilingual education different states implemented in the 1970s and 1980s.  California is probably the poster child for this public policy because, in 1972, it put bilingual education into effect for its large Hispanic population.

The History of Bilingual Education

The history of bilingual education is quite complicated, and it is not my purpose to retell that story here.  Pressure groups and politicians, however, have rationalized bilingual education with the best of intentions but not with well-considered or thoughtful approaches at implementation.

In simple terms, bilingual education is ill-considered public policy because we do a disservice to those immigrant children for whom we use it. The far superior approach is to teach English in accelerated programs for all immigrants. What we lack in America are teachers that can do this level of teaching, but it a critical and necessary resource.

Here’s The Reality Regarding Learning English

I traveled to Southeast Asia in 2004 and visited Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand.  When I talked with the people in those three countries, I received the same response. They worked at their respective jobs during the day and then studied English and computer science after work, either in school or on their own. They all realized that their success in life and business was directly related to their English language proficiency. I found a similar response when I worked in Taiwan (1966-67), the Philippines (1971-74), and Saudi Arabia (1979-2003).

I have observed the same success of learning English in two other places as well, Hong Kong and Singapore. English language proficiency has always been quite high in Hong Kong because the British ruled Hong Kong from 1842 to 1997.  Lee Kwan Yew, who was the Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990, also recognized the value of the English language in moving Singapore from Third World to First World status.  The success of Hong Kong and Singapore is quite remarkable, given where they started.

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