We all agree that children must learn Spanish and English to have certain guarantees of a successful professional future, but when we get involved with co-official languages, in the autonomous communities that have them, the debate is already complicated.
I am a professor of physics and chemistry in Galicia, a subject that by law in ESO is taught there in Spanish, but if in some course I have to give biology and geology, then by law the class will be in Galician. Since 2010 we have a decree of multilingualism establishing a vehicular language for each subject with a more or less balanced distribution between Galician and Spanish with which some agree and others do not, as with all decrees, come on ... But, what really happens when the door of the classroom and nobody looks?
Maybe I shouldn't tell you this, in case there is an inspector who reads me, but The classroom is a private space where teachers and children decide, by mutual agreement, to skip the odd norm from time to time and I know that, with the issue of multilingualism, it is relatively common for that to happen ...
In Galicia, all teachers speak at least Spanish and Galician, it is mandatory to accredit an advanced level of both languages to present themselves to the opposition, that is, not only to approve it, but also to enter lists and make substitutions. Students and students usually have more fluently with one than with another depending on its context social and family, but they understand both perfectly, although, of course, everyone prefers the one they are most used to. What a mess!
Bilingualism in harmony and with advantages
Well no, zero problems, the reality is that the two languages coexist in the classroom in perfect harmony without the fact of combining them supposes for the student some complication. The textbook or work materials are always available in the official vehicular language (Spanish in some cases and Galician in others, depending on the subject), but then, if someone asks questions in the other language, most teachers respond in that although it is not the one that marks the law and so the classes are passed, constantly jumping from one language to another. Well, I do not, I give the class entirely in Spanish always complying with the law, of course!
This of breaking the law, in general, is very badly done, but in this particular case I see at least a couple of advantages. One is to normalize and another to expand specific vocabulary. In a subject that is not linguistic, in my opinion, language has to facilitate learning, not complicate it, and that is why I understand that there are teachers who skip the law to answer questions to the student in the language in which he feels most comfortable. Similarly, the use of both languages in the same context normalizes its co-officiality and when studying certain concepts, do it in both languages allows to expand vocabulary that, being very specific, sometimes you don't work in language classes.
Another issue is that, although in Santiago de Compostela which is where I work, fortunately it does not happen, in Galicia there are still many areas where Galician is still at a clear disadvantage With respect to Spanish. In those places, where the family cannot teach it because they did not have it as their mother tongue for political and historical reasons, the school can and should put it in value and give it the place it deserves because it is a fundamental part of our culture, of our tradition and our identity.
There are concepts and feelings that Galicians do not know how to say in Spanish, some cannot be translated, such as: morriña, enxebre, colo, rosmar ... and there are things that although literally could be translated into Spanish, they would never sound the same, like: I never choveu that I didn't escape ... There are also wonderful combinations of the two languages, which have already crossed our borders and are understood anywhere, such as: well, sweetheart, good!
To be able to choose a language freely, you have to know it
Fortunately children tend to complicate things much less than we do adults and for them the important thing is that we all understand each other well and now. Diversity for them is not a problem either linguistically or in any other area. In the same class there may be children of various cultures, various religions, various nationalities, several mother tongues, different abilities physical and intellectual and that not only does not separate them, but the enriches and provides them with a wonderful context to learn more and better.
When a student arrives or a student from abroad who does not speak Galician, or who does not speak Galician or Spanish ... classmates and classmates are the first to help and translate what you do not understand other languages that you understand, within your means. Situations like that even help to wake up the Everyone's interest in learning new languages to facilitate communication. In the end everything is a matter of common sense or, as we would say in Galician, sentiment.
I have never heard children say that we have to establish in class a unique language to speak it all, none, rather what they propose is that we learn the more languages the better so that each one can express himself in whatever he wants, he feels his own and the others can understand him. This is one of the advantages of being a teacher, you learn a lot from the example of children every day!
