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| 04-12-2005 | Previous edition: 04-11-2005 |
        
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Printer-friendly version New Spanish heritage class looks at Latino history, issuesBy Alexis BaconStaff Writer Purdue now offers a class to students native to the Spanish language. Sonia González, assistant professor of Spanish and director of Spanish for Heritage Speakers Program, said the program is "designed to meet the linguistic needs of fluent (Spanish) speakers." The class focuses on "writing, reading, speaking, vocabulary, accents and problems a native speaker would have." The class was offered years ago and was brought back in the fall of 2004. The Spanish speaking community at Purdue and throughout the United States is expanding. According to the U.S. Census, 102.6 million is the expected Hispanic population of the United States by July 1, 2050. According to this projection, Hispanics would constitute 24 percent of the nation’s total population on that date. This growing population is striving to keep its traditions, history and language a part of their everyday lives. This Spanish speaking class is also offered at other schools throughout the nation, such as California and Illinois. The Spanish for Heritage Speakers Program offers its students a sense of Latino history, a chance to discuss issues affecting their community and an opportunity for students to continue speaking Spanish in hopes of keeping the language alive for subsequent generations. The students taking this course try to advance themselves in class and the students are also volunteers throughout the community. Joel Muñoz, a junior in the College of Liberal Arts, said "something important is the volunteering project." Being a volunteer is a requirement of the class and most students tutor grade school students who do not speak English as their first language. Muñoz was born in Lafayette, but Spanish was his first language and he didn’t learn English until he was in public school. Such classes as Purdue’s Spanish for Heritage Speakers were not always offered, but grade schools, high schools and universities throughout the United States are quickly adapting to growth of the Hispanic population. Joel Muñoz said offering the class makes Purdue look good and will attract more Hispanics to West Lafayette. Sonia Gonzalez said an increase in the Hispanic population on Purdue’s campus will make the campus life "more diverse, rich in culture and traditions, and enrich the other students' lives." Printer-friendly version |
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