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Kendra King's insight:
Belize is becoming more Spanish speaking due to their influx of migrant immigrants. According to the article, “Belize now has more native speakers of Spanish than of English.” As such, knowing how to speak two languages is a huge benefit to those working in the service sector. Given that this sector is one that both migrants and natives partake in, it makes sense. Thus, making Spanish classes mandatory for the native non-migrants is actually a smart economic move that ensures the students will come out with practical skills. It may seem odd that English is still the primary language taught in school given the importance of Spanish, but it isn't. My guess is that most of the migrant Spanish speaking workers are not in school . The article mentioned most of the migrants are moving into rural areas where they work in the the fruit fields. Such jobs do not requite a lot of education. So without the Spanish speaking population present in the school system, there isn't much of a reason to change the primary language of the school. Therefore, adding Spanish as a class is the best move given the populations needs.
Conversely, the ethnic relations in the country is something I do not full grasp. The author's insured the relationship between members of different ethnic groups are “generally good.” However, I would have liked more concrete proof of this assurance. To me the evidence the author provided could just end up causing more tensions. For the author assured the groups were getting along because politicians weren't divided on ethnic lines and as such were giving free land to new migrants. The land wasn't going to the other members of the population because it is not in their character to ask. While it might not be in there character to ask for help, they could resent others actually taking the help. Especially if this gives an economic advantage. Now I could be wrong, but in countries where the minority challenge the majority things get unpleasant as discussed in class when looking at Europe and the Untied States. Given the developmental differences of these regions, the comparison may be inaccurate. However, until I hear more about how the groups actually feel towards each other, I am going to remain critical of the author's statement that all is good.Image may be NSFW.
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"BELIZE has long been a country of immigrants. British timber-cutters imported African slaves in the 18th century, and in the 1840s Mexican Mayans fled a civil war."
Kendra King's insight:
Belize is becoming more Spanish speaking due to their influx of migrant immigrants. According to the article, “Belize now has more native speakers of Spanish than of English.” As such, knowing how to speak two languages is a huge benefit to those working in the service sector. Given that this sector is one that both migrants and natives partake in, it makes sense. Thus, making Spanish classes mandatory for the native non-migrants is actually a smart economic move that ensures the students will come out with practical skills. It may seem odd that English is still the primary language taught in school given the importance of Spanish, but it isn't. My guess is that most of the migrant Spanish speaking workers are not in school . The article mentioned most of the migrants are moving into rural areas where they work in the the fruit fields. Such jobs do not requite a lot of education. So without the Spanish speaking population present in the school system, there isn't much of a reason to change the primary language of the school. Therefore, adding Spanish as a class is the best move given the populations needs.
Conversely, the ethnic relations in the country is something I do not full grasp. The author's insured the relationship between members of different ethnic groups are “generally good.” However, I would have liked more concrete proof of this assurance. To me the evidence the author provided could just end up causing more tensions. For the author assured the groups were getting along because politicians weren't divided on ethnic lines and as such were giving free land to new migrants. The land wasn't going to the other members of the population because it is not in their character to ask. While it might not be in there character to ask for help, they could resent others actually taking the help. Especially if this gives an economic advantage. Now I could be wrong, but in countries where the minority challenge the majority things get unpleasant as discussed in class when looking at Europe and the Untied States. Given the developmental differences of these regions, the comparison may be inaccurate. However, until I hear more about how the groups actually feel towards each other, I am going to remain critical of the author's statement that all is good.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
