Despite English being the official language of The Bahamas, it is simply not enough. For the most part, the people that have only one language are sometimes at a disadvantage, especially with tourism being the country's number one industry. To this end, modern languages are being taught to students as early as the primary school years, and at least one week is dedicated to the celebration of second languages.
Garvin Tynes Primary School is one of the public school institutions celebrating Modern Language Week, March 24-28. The student body celebrated the Hispanic culture with an assembly under the theme "Languages Unite the World."
"Modern languages actually does unite the world," said Kendra Cash, Spanish teacher at Garvin Tynes Primary. "If you travel to another country where they don't speak English, by knowing the language you would be able to effectively communicate and survive."
During Wednesday's celebration, performed in its entirety in Spanish, the sixth-grade students engaged in dramatizations, while fourth grade students recited poetry and sang a three-song medley of popular songs -- "The More We Work Together", "This is the Day" and "Smile Awhile."
A dramatization based on the "Good Samaritan" which was also translated from English spoke to a tourist coming to The Bahamas and not being able to function. Through a translator, a Bahamian who knew Spanish, the visitor to The Bahamas was assisted.
The second dance/dramatization was set in the Spanish classroom and spoke to an educator teaching students the body parts and engaging them in a song about the body parts. At the end of the day the teacher came back to the classroom, where she met the students in a funny situation and reprimanded them.
Cash, an eight-year teacher at Garvin Tynes who conducted her first modern languages assembly at the school said she was happy she had finally done it as she realized its importance.
"A lot of our kids I feel are isolated being here in The Bahamas and they don't get a lot of exposure, so it gives them the knowledge to know that there are other places out there and it makes them more aware and to also have an appreciation for their own culture by seeing others," she said.
The Spanish teacher said her kids are quite communicative with the language, even though they're not quite where she would like them to be as yet when it comes to reading and writing.
"They're very verbal and I try to focus a lot on oral communication, because a lot of the time we tend to teach bookwork, and at the end of the day the kids still can't handle a conversation when they leave the classroom. My goal is to ensure that they are at least able to communicate with persons of the Hispanic culture when they leave," said Cash.
While Cash's students do not get the opportunity at real situation experiences with the language outside of the classroom, she said she tries to teach with lots of simulation activities.3
"One lesson I allowed them to imagine being on an airplane, and created an environment as if they were on an airplane with the sound effects and everything and they really responded really well to that lesson. When I do make it as real as possible they learn better, and they remember," she said.
School principal Carolyn Wright-Mitchell, who herself is fresh off a master's degree study program in China where she had to learn the language to be able to communicate, said that experience alone taught her the importance of having a second language.
"Having a second language would be an asset to our students, so we need to expose them to other languages," said Wright-Mitchell. "And it was shared during the assembly that exposure to another language, or being able to speak another language really helps you to learn your native tongue as well, helps with brain development and helps you make more money."
During the remainder of Modern Languages Week, the students at Garvin Tynes Primary were expected to continue to use conversational Spanish in all of their classes.
Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian
