The 2009 film, Speaking in Tongues, sheds light on the importance of acknowledging linguistic barriers In American school systems. The directors, Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider, have both had films nominated for academy awards such as Born in the USA, Regret to Inform, and An American Journey. Speaking in Tongues has been awarded the 2009 San Francisco Film Festival Best Documentary Feature and was even shown at The Central Arts Festival in Pennsylvania presented by Penn State. This film is a mixed genre documentary that centers around Durrell, Kelly, Jason, and Julian as well as their parents and teachers as they are attending language immersion schools in California. 

Speaking in Tongues is the documentary to watch when parents are deciding if they should include their children in immersion based educational systems or if they are considering incorporating bilingualism into their children’s lives. It is crazy how many people have no idea these types of educational systems exist. In the film, the children are practically “thrown into” a classroom where the only spoken language is a language foreign to them, and it is amazing how quickly they catch on. The film weighs in the pros and the cons (and incorporates more pros than cons) of children learning a second language before age 13. In the film, Durrell’s mother states that learning different languages is a “part of being a good world citizen” (Speaking in Tongues). Even Ken Schneider, one of the directors, states that “Even though 31 states have passed laws ruling that students learn only English, the San Francisco school board in 2006 approved a resolution allowing the public school system to offer bilingual education, to which some people are opposed” (Schneider). People are changing, times are changing, and the United States should adjust to letting more school districts in America support bilingualism.

 

I believe the United States as a whole is too comfortable only knowing English while people who speak other languages sink. According to an article written by Pew Research center, “in 2015, 46,630,000 people living in America were born in other countries.” As one of the countries that hold one of the largest number of immigrants yearly, you would think there would be more language learning options and the film touches on this idea often. Even the parents of the children in the documentary state that they wish they were given the choice to learn a new language in school in order to communicate better with their families in other countries and to simply build their knowledge. In the film, Kelly’s mom stated she wanted her daughter to attend a Cantonese immersion program so she would be able to communicate better with her distant relatives, something she was never able to do. Durrell’s mom placed him in a Mandarin immersion school so he would have more opportunities in life after learning a second language. Julian’s parents wanted Julian in a Chinese immersion program to help intellectual development and to open doors to many new people and things. On the other end, Jason, a Mexican American immigrant, struggles to learn English since his family speaks Spanish only. He is brought into a Spanish/English immersion classroom setting where he begins to excel in both languages equally. Whatever the reason for entering the immersion programs in California, the film does a great job on weighing in the pros for learning new languages in school settings.

 

Overall, the film does a great job on helping parents weigh in the pros and cons of including their children in immersion programs with the use of real-life testimonies of parents, teachers, students, and the Board of Education. If you would like to hear the amazing story four children who succeeded and thrived in school-based immersion programs, Speaking in Tongues is the documentary of the century.