The relevance of bilingualism and its benefits was the topic of a lecture given to members of the Spanish Department and students at Alexander High School by experts on the subject this month.
Rosa Maria Ceballos De Llano, Laredo’s Poet Laureate, along with Dr. Patricia Garza-Gonzalez, an independent researcher interested in bilinguism, were the guest speakers.
Spanish Department chairperson Sylvia E. Vargas welcomed the lecturers along with assistant principals Elvira Gaona and Isabel Valdez and Spanish teachers Eduardo Bustos, Daniel Hermosillo, Juan Hermosillo, Limbania Martínez, Elizabeth Valdez, Luis Valdez and Claudia Zúñiga.
Vargas said that she invited Ceballos De Llano and Garza-Gonzalez to reinforce what she and her teachers have been teaching during the semester.
“We wanted them to know that being bilingual and bicultural has its benefits and gives them a competitive advantage,” she said.
More than 200 students were present in the cafeteria.
Ceballos De Llano started the lecture with a question: “Isn’t it better to own two houses, two cars, two computers, etc?”
Those items, however, cost money. But what doesn’t cost a penny is having two languages, especially if you are on the border, are Hispanic, and are already enrolled in a Spanish class at school, she said.
Ceballos De Llano added that being bilingual and bicultural give the students so many advantages.
“The first and foremost is that you have access to the to the two of the most spoken languages in the whole world,” she said. “Spanish is the second most spoken and English is third. You can communicate with over 800 million people in the world. Languages are not only words but different cultures that enrich your life.”
Ceballos De Llano also said that there are many other advantages like getting better job opportunities and more career choices. She also said that being bilingual can improve your brain’s health.
“It has been proven scientifically that the bilingual brain functions better and (has a lesser chance to develop) dementia and Alzheimer’s later in life than a monolingual,” she said.
Garza-Gonzalez said that students who are fluent in English recognized the importance of Spanish classes, especially locals that live on the border.
“In addition, Spanish as a heritage language for the majority of the inhabitants of Laredo goes hand in hand with our identity and our culture,” she said. “Recognizing identity and culture include in our city, speaking two languages, separated in different contexts or mixed in others, which is an advantage.”
Ceballos De Llano and Garza-Gonzalez agreed that students were very attentive and courteous, and it was a pleasure to talk to them about this.
Vargas thanked the speakers for the well-planned and organized conference.
“This special conference was very successful because the students’ engagement couldn’t be accomplished without the dedication from teachers like Mrs. De Llano and Dr. Garza-González, who went above and beyond to provide academic support! Mil gracias!” she said.
mcharur@lmtonline.com
