Speaking in Tongues

Filmed in San Francisco, Speaking in Tongues looks at the rise in secondary-language skills among today's young people—not immigrants in need of bilingual instruction, but rather children whose non-immigrant parents are putting them in non-English-language immersion schools, whether for personal reasons or with an eye toward future professional options. Directors Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider follow four students in programs that provide instruction primarily in Cantonese, Mandarin, or Spanish (while also requiring the study of the English language). Kelly, a seventh-grader, hails from a middle-class Chinese-American family, but her parents don't speak Cantonese; they see her forming a bridge between past and present, since she can converse with her non-English-speaking grandmother, while most of the other relatives can't. Julian, a high school student who has been studying Cantonese for nine years, intends to apply his language skills to a career as an aerospace engineer (the filmmakers follow him on a trip to China). African-American second-grader Durrell lives in public housing and goes to a Mandarin school with students from various backgrounds. Jason's Mexican parents don't speak any English, and the seventh-grader attends a Spanish school with the aim of becoming fluent in both languages to avoid the communication difficulties they faced. Speaking in Tongues makes a convincing case for immersion schools, although it's a little disappointing to see parents and grandparents unwilling to put as much effort into learning English as these young people are putting into learning non-English languages. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)