The revolutionary power of bilingualism | Karina Chapa | TEDxMcAllen

Karina Chapa speaks to the power of bilingualism and its ability to revolutionize education. In America, over 5 million students speak a language other than English at home, but regardless of the diversity of languages, only 20% of people are bilingual. Karina sheds light on the history of bilingualism in the United States and how we can move forward in today’s educational system.
Karina’s talk also looks into the neural science behind bilingualism and its positive effects on cognitive flexibility, creativity and problem solving skills. Karina Chapa is a courageous bilingual advocate who proudly serves more than 160,000 bilingual students in deep South Texas. She is an Ex-A-Tec originally from Monterrey, Mexico. She is currently the Language Proficiency, Biliteracy and Cultural Diversity Director. She is also the Legislative Chair for the Texas Association for Bilingual Education and the Parliamentarian for RGV-TABE. She has dedicated 18 years of her professional career to empowering bilingual education students, teachers, and administrators in the deep South Texas border. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@joeaverage3444]

Being able to speak two or more languages is one of the greatest gifts you'll ever enjoy in life.

[@RobertoGarcia-nk1of]

This was well put together in a time where bilingualism should NOT be put down because there is much more to it than just a "second language". Thank you, Karina.

[@karinachapa4033]

Roberto Garcia My pleasure! 👍

[@adanvicente9847]

Karina I'm amazed you're not a monolingual, es usd. Una lingüista!!!👌👌

[@jonatasmendonca2079]

As a self-learner English speaker and native Brazilian Portuguese speaker I couldn't agree more with this lady: being multilingual is the key to revolution...

[@bilingualpride4012]

Thank you! I appreciate your comment!

[@nicolasitl6861]

Sai logo dessa merda de país hahahaha brincadeira.

[@bilingualpride4012]

@@nicolasitl6861 não é melhor ficar e tentar melhorar as coisas?

[@nicolasitl6861]

@@bilingualpride4012 Pra se ferrar sozinho sem resultado? Quem pode sair e não sai é muito ingênuo ou está se aproveitando das crises.

[@bilingualpride4012]

@@nicolasitl6861 afinal, esse evento se chamava "somos sonhadores" ... um pouco ingênuo, um pouco sonhador, mas ainda na luta

[@fernandomarquez365]

No sé en que idioma escribirte un mensaje , pero lo voy a hacer in Spanish porque vivo ahorita en Mexico (soy trilingue, hablo mi dialecto de mi pueblo, Spanish and English y estoy aprendiendo Francés), todo lo que comentas en tu video son 100% ciertos porque me paso lo mismo cuando estudiaba en EEUU (2018-2019) la diferencia es que no sabia nada de English y todos los dias tenia que ir a diferentes seminarios (soy investigador) y todo era: ENGLISH, ENGLISH, ENGLISH.... y muchas veces me puse a llorar porque no aprendia el idioma rapido y porque a veces tenia que hacer reportes de los seminarios, hoy en dia estoy por terminar mi doctorado en fisica y tambien apoyo a jovenes en la CDMX a aprender el ENGLISH porque no quiero que sufran y sobre todo porque quiero ver a mis mexicanos triunfando por el mundo, tengo club de conversacion y doy clases en mi humilde hogar, have a good one and God bless you always ... Best, Fernando

[@bilingualpride4012]

¡Muchísimas gracias por tu comentario, Fernando!

[@imeldadelacruz2208]

Well done Karina. Lots of points that were covered here that need to be shared with many, but especially our bilingual community of educators. Such as, “violation of civil rights” for these students and families, “we need to sit at the same table to talk and discuss” and “we have weapons of mass construction” within our reach!

[@karinachapa4033]

Imelda DeLaCruz Thank you! I’m glad you liked it!

[@deboranestal9597]

She is an enthusiastic bilingual professional. In her talk she showed us the importance of study languages and keep the proud of yours. She encourages us to be better and never give up. Thank You! Let's give her a clap! 👏 She rocks! 🤩

[@bilingualpride4012]

So sweet! Thank you for your kind words!

[@dmar6770]

@@bilingualpride4012 you’re amazing! Let’s all empower our children! Bilingualism is definitely a gift!

[@bilingualpride4012]

@@dmar6770 Absolutely! Bilingualism for all! :D

[@deboraarianacorreadasilva2904]

Neat video. Definitely to be able to speak more language is powerful. I liked when she spoke about our native language and how it can help us in the process of learning a new language. I already had tutors that told me unlike that. Thanks for the video.

[@victoriabrosch832]

This is an awesome video with a very important message. What is the most interesting about this to me as a foreigner is how the American education system views bilingualism. I’m from Germany and there we started learning a second language ( in my case English ) from 1st grade onward, then in 6th grade we had a choice between learning French or Latin ( other schools offer Spanish, Japanese or many others as well ) and then later on we again had sever chances to study different languages by the end of our “high school” time. I myself learned English, Latin, Italian and Spanish so far in school ( I am by no means fluent in all of them ) but still it was always viewed as a good thing to learn new languages and to be bilingual and it was also greatly encouraged so to see how different this subject is treated in other counties is very interesting to me ( I may have to add that I went to gymnasium in Germany which is the “highest” form of school after primary school, so i don’t know how this subject would be treated in other school types)

[@bilingualpride4012]

Thank you for sharing your personal experience!

[@thaberean]

Much-needed talk!

[@larry52473]

I'm so proud of myself because now I can say that I have understood everything and it makes me feel so comfortable and confident with my life. I'm glad to hear you. Thanks a lot for this greatful speech

[@bilingualpride4012]

You are very welcome! Thank you for your kind words!

[@accent77]

The main problem is we need the Spanish speaking certified teachers. A LOT of them. And second language education SUCKS in America and Canada. It is taught completely wrong. You need to learn to speak it BEFORE you focus on the grammar. The fact that we don't/wont try to fix this is insane. We will HAVE to be bilingual in the future to be successful in the business world. A person who is bilingual is many times more valuable as an employee than someone who is not.

[@phillipjordan3013]

Yes agree. I'm 42 from Ohio. I wish my schooling would have stressed Spanish studies and made it mandatory. I'm always working with Spanish speakers and I have learned the hard way. That language if learned young would have been more valuable than math or history . America education and culture is pathetic. We need to be more bilingual like Europeans. Our country got a tremendous set back culturally from 4 years of Trump meathead culture. We Americans badly need a profound renaissance. I work on my Spanish skills everyday. I'm also studying Finnish to translate heavy metal music from that country. Great video and speakers Senorita Hermoso

[@fernandomarquez365]

@@phillipjordan3013 If you need help with your Spanish I will love to help you... I speak 3 languages and I am learning the next one and I am a scientist by the way

[@bilingualpride4012]

@@phillipjordan3013 Muchísimas gracias 🙏

[@NiAnime]

So good, I like it, this was a motivation than I needed! This is one of the best TED talk than I have seen.

[@bilingualpride4012]

Thank you so much for your kind comments!

[@jeannettestuckelschwaiger5071]

It is handy to speak few différents languages. I used to work in à multinational entreprise and played golf with british scandinavian french people. One thing I found difficult at the beginning, was thé order of words in sentences. Hier, je suis allée à l'école. The dutch says: hier, suis je à l'école allée.😅 Gisteren, ben ik naar school gegaan.

[@vidiuz]

Emocionante e inspirador!

[@bilingualpride4012]

Muchas gracias 🙏

[@philipb2134]

Bilingualism once had been thought to handicap children. I have found in my travels that polyglots fared better in unusual circumstances where there was no common language. Cheers!

[@user-ig3ds9kf5n]

😊😂

[@wahyudanuarta8092]

I love the way you presented the materials

[@bilingualpride4012]

Thank you!

[@franciscojavierbenitosanti5200]

I love this video. Thanks for sharing us your investigation :)

[@bilingualpride4012]

Thank you for watching it!

[@kereneldad2960]

Excellent talk. Buenazo xx

[@karinachapa4033]

Keren Eldad Thanks a lot! 🤗

[@sugelysolano]

Karina Chapa This would be great in Spanish to share with Spanish speaking parents. Do you have a similar talk in Spanish?

[@karinachapa4033]

Sugely Solano I do this kind of presentation for parents in Spanish in my current job as regional bilingual director in South Texas, but I don’t have them in video format, sorry 😓 GREAT IDEA though! 🤗

[@jimteofa]

Karina! Impresionante! Luchare contigo para el resto de mi vida para cambiar la mentalidad de "Engilsh only." Voy a compartir esto con mis estudiantes. Gracias. Jim

[@bilingualpride4012]

Mil gracias, Jim! Encantada de poder apoyar a tus estudiantes con este video :)

[@athompsonbaker]

So this question probably needs more discussion and explanation but as an ESL teacher, who doesn't speak the students' languages, I try to find resources in the home language as much as I can and Google translate things (which isn't that great, I know) but what more can be done? I always try to ask kids how to say things in their first language, I hope it's enough. Any other suggestions? Thank you for a great talk!

[@karinachapa4033]

A. B. If possible, partner them up with someone who speaks their first language and give them time to process the information you taught and even ask them to teach it to each other in their L1. This will allow them to make the metalinguistic and metacognitive connections between their L1 and English that they need to fully develop the concepts in their minds :) Keep up the good work!!! 🙏

[@Donello]

@@karinachapa4033 Does that mean that the children do have to go through the same things twice? Do you have time for this in "normal" schools?

[@karinachapa7489]

@Donello Not necessarily. I’m suggesting giving them some time to process with a partner in their native language, while the rest of the lesson is in English. Just like English speakers also have to process in their native language by talking to partner, English Learners can also turn and talk, but in their native language... if possible, of course. I absolutely understand this is not feasible 100% of the time. I am just advocating for the use of the whole linguistic repertoire that children bring to the table, instead of blocking a portion of it at the expense of English.

[@languageteacherpreneur]

I've brought up my son who was born in Spain to speak native speaker level English. I've written about the 5 key strategies that any parent can use(even non natives) to ensure their child speaks a second language from birth. THE 5 KEY STRATEGIES OF SUCCESSFUL BILINGUAL FAMILIES by Simon Brampton. You'll avoid the one major mistake unsuccessful parents make. Also available in Spanish.

[@vuaeco]

The irony of the poster that says "This is America, speak in English" is that it should have said "This is America, speak in American". You see, America doesn't even have its own language and has to "borrow" (or should I say steal) a language from a country in Europe! Now the poster is saying to bilingual people who don't speak English that "This is America where we don't speak American but rather speak a language stolen from another country". What a ridiculous oxymoron!

[@bilingualpride4012]

Thanks for your comment! To add to the conversation, was English “stolen” or “imposed”?

[@jorgemartinmoguel8140]

I think in english now 😳 así como así…. Literal un día me desperté y mi mente se programó en inglés 😳

[@bilingualpride4012]

Impresionante cómo funciona nuestra mente, ¿verdad?

[@fienevandijk7224]

I dreamt (partially) in Japanese, but I'm nowhere near fluent. But at the same time, I don't remember ever having dreamt in English, even though I consider myself to be fluent. I guess my brain's just different

[@karinachapa7489]

That’s very interesting! Maybe you are a balanced bilingual and you really don’t differentiate between languages while you dream! In my case, when I realized I was dreaming in English, I was barely acquiring fluency in the language.

[@matildawolfram4687]

Good video! The most important thing in life is knowledge of foreign languages! Thanks to foreign languages you can realize all your dreams and realize your grandiose ambitions! I would like to recommend all the practices of Yuriy Ivantsiv ''Polyglot Notes. Practical tips for learning foreign language". This book will be an indispensable helper, a handbook for every person who studies a foreign language! This book contains invaluable tips, questions and answers, and solutions to problems faced by anyone who studies a foreign language! Knowledge is power! And knowledge of foreign languages is your power multiplied by many times! Success to all in self-development!

[@adrianarogeligo]

My kids are struggling in bilingual class they know English more the principal doesn’t care they are forcing my children to learn Spanish when I don’t know Spanish !!!

[@bilingualpride4012]

Children need parental permission to participate in a bilingual program, at least in Texas. My recommendation is to speak with the teacher, campus administrator, or district bilingual director to clarify the placement of your child.

[@jenvienna1]

Sorry but this is quite inaccurate. There are children born with multiple languages and they are NOT illiterate … bilinguism is something else. You are talking about immigrants’ language skills development … bilinguism you are born with.

[@Carla369]

Q insoportable en español jaja

[@bilingualpride4012]

¿Gracias? LOL

[@101grandengamer7]

Irritante diria yo jaja

[@iraklitsiklauri6828]

I spik Spanish also.

[@iraklitsiklauri6828]

@@bilingualpride4012 What is this "LOL" this is a lenguage informatic ?