Language and Culture: Respecting Family Choices

“Culture is like the wind. You cannot touch it or see it, but you know it when you feel it, and you see its effects,” we're told in this brief look at the importance of preserving native languages--both in emigrant cultures (such as Mexican families new to the U.S.) and from generation to generation in native ethnic groups living within a larger culture (such as Native Americans). Combining comments from families and various support personnel, together with mostly irrelevant though nicely shot black-and-white and slow-motion footage of children in school and at home, Language and Culture suggests that being bilingual offers the best advantages since native languages are important to maintain cultural heritage, while English is necessary to advance socially, politically, and economically within American culture. Of course, this is not a particularly new or revolutionary insight, and beyond a few personal anecdotes (the best of which involves a disabled girl's boost in self-esteem from being able to teach Spanish to her peers), this short film doesn't really do much more than scratch the surface of this complex topic. Optional. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)