Author: Marcia Jarmel

Marcia and her husband Ken Schneider directed Speaking in Tongues, the award-winning PBS documentary telling the stories of four diverse kids becoming bilingual in San Francisco’s public schools.

Speaking in Tongues was inspired by our experiences with the parents and students at our sons’ Chinese immersion school here in San Francisco. When we first decided to enroll our older son, friends and family thought we were crazy, especially since neither of us knew Chinese. They thought we were putting our sons’ English-language development at risk – one of the most common misconceptions about immersion programs. We felt reassured by the 40-odd years of research suggesting that, quite the contrary, kids – whether native English speakers or not – will do better academically when they’re learning bilingually. That’s certainly been our experience. You can check out key studies by following the links on the film’s website.

Academic achievement is not the only reason for kids to become bilingual. As the students in Speaking in Tongues demonstrate, knowing more than one language opens all kinds of doors: to jobs, to an understanding of people from different cultures – be they around the corner or across the globe – and to a greater understanding of ourselves and our own families.

In the film, we follow four very different kids: a Mexican-American boy whose immigrant parents see language as the key to his full participation in the land of opportunity; an African-American kindergartner whose mom hopes that Mandarin will be his ticket out of the projects; a Chinese-American girl recapturing the Cantonese her parents sacrificed to become American; and a Caucasian eighth-grader eager to expand his horizons. All four kids have performed very well academically. Jason, the Mexican-American student, is maintaining a 4.0 average and is testing above grade level in both English and Spanish, despite the fact that his parents never went to school at all.

Through the good graces of the San Francisco Foundation, there will be many opportunities to see Speaking in Tongues in the next year. Each school in the district will receive its own copy and the district will be using the film in professional development for educators, parent education, and teacher recruitment. The film will be on KQED next fall, too.

Want to find out where you can see the movie and learn more about the benefits of multilingualism? Join the film’s Facebook group, or check out the film’s website.

Interested in learning more about immersion programs in San Francisco public schools? Check out the district’s Multilingual Education Department.