Play Locally: Speaking in Tongues 10:00am this Sunday at Multilingual Chicago

SPEAKING IN TONGUES TRAILER from Speaking in Tongues on Vimeo.


Sunday
Film-10:30am 
Multilingual Chicago is working with Inter-American Magnet School's parent group (FELE) to host free screenings of the film Speaking in Tongues, about four kids from diverse backgrounds and their journey toward becoming bilingual.
 
My own mother was an ESL (English as a second language) teacher for many years and we hosted exchange students from all over the world while I was growing up.   This gave me an appreciation for cultural diversity and desire to travel that I'm now working to instill in my own children.    We've been tweeting and posting on Facebook about this film for weeks, but here's a last reminder.
 
*free, multicultural film
Sunday, January 21st at 10:30am (childcare provided) at Multilingual Chicago: 2934 N.Milwaukee Ave.  

From the filmmakers:

Sometimes a small idea has big implications. Consider America’s resolute commitment to remaining an “English only” nation. It turns out that our attitudes about language reflect much bigger concerns: that language is a metaphor for the barriers that come between neighbors, be they across the street or around the world.

Our idea in making Speaking in Tongues was to showcase a world where these communication barriers are being addressed. An African-American boy from public housing learns to read, write, and speak Mandarin. A Mexican-American boy, whose parents are not literate in any language, develops professional-level Spanish while mastering English. A Chinese-American girl regains her grandparents’ mother tongue—a language her parents lost through assimilation. A Caucasian teen travels to Beijing to stay with a Mandarin speaking host family. Their stories reveal the promise of a multilingual America. Each kid’s world opens up when they start learning two languages on the first day of kindergarten; each is developing both bicultural and bilingual fluency.

We absolutely plan to check it out.   The film sounds wonderful. Here's Speaking in Tongue's website for further information.