Category: Education

Learning to Cherish Trilingualism

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By Mary Guillen

Growing up speaking Mandarin, Spanish and English is something I took for granted. It was not something I was proud of (much less boasted about) because most of my classmates were not racially mixed and they saw it as being odd or strange.

Before starting school, I never thought anything of it. But one day in first grade my friend commented on how weird it was that my parents were from such different countries. That was the beginning of a long period during which I often tried to hide my mixed heritage from my peers because I wanted to blend in. read more

Lenguaje que Ofende

Jamie Fisher
Jamie Fisher

Por Jamie Fisher

Trata de pensar en alguna vez que conociste a alguien quien hablaba un idioma diferente que el tuyo. ¿Cuál fue la primera cosa que querías saber cómo decir? A lo mejor, preguntaste a dicha persona como maldecir en su lenguaje.
Especialmente, para los que están tratando de aprender un idioma nuevo es casi un prerrequisito saber manejar vocablos vulgares. No sólo porque ese vocabulario nuevo abre las puertas a un mundo inmenso de expresión, sino porque también le da al hablante novicio un sentido de poder, sabiendo que es capaz de cruzar fronteras lingüísticas para escandalizar, insultar y emocionar. read more

Vibrant School District Starved by State

By Leslie Layton

Some California school districts have gone broke because of gross mismanagement. Some have gone broke on fraud and corruption. The Chico Unified School District has gone broke on good intentions and a crashing state economy.

You could argue that it went broke by providing what parents in this college town wanted, even when the district could no longer afford those amenities. It offered small primary school classes and high school electives like French IV and ran tiny schools in the nearby communities of Cohasset and Forest Ranch. read more

Hibridad lingüística por los pasillos del BMU

Osiris Aníbal Gómez
Osiris Aníbal Gómez

Por Osiris Aníbal Gómez

“Oyes, llámame para atrás porque voy tarde para mi clase, OK. Luego te veo, bye!” No recuerdo el día que al caminar por los pasillos del BMU de la Universidad Estatal de Chico, no haya escuchado conversaciones como ésta. No es ninguna sorpresa, ni tampoco un nuevo estilo de habla entre los hispanohablantes de California, esta mezcla del español con inglés, va más allá del ya popular Spanglish.
Lo que sucede hoy en día, es que todos los hispanohablantes nativos y de segunda generación contribuyen inconscientemente a un fenómeno idiomático que se propaga por todos los rincones de EEUU. La razón es la gran influencia que el inglés tiene sobre el español. A pesar de que muchos lo catalogan como incorrecto, es algo tan legítimo como natural. Es un fenómeno evidente e imparable, cuya influencia queda reflejada en las conversaciones que escucho a menudo entre los estudiantes: read more

Carter Promotes Cultural Living

Photo by T.J. Holmes Charles "CC" Carter launched the Cross Cultural Leadership Center at Chico State last year to further the kinds of relationships that he believes are sometimes difficult in America.

Photo by T.J. Holmes

Charles “CC” Carter launched the Cross Cultural Leadership Center at Chico State last year to further the kinds of relationships that he believes are sometimes difficult in America.


By T.J. Holmes

Charles “CC” Carter knows the value of focus and determination.

Carter, an alumnus of Chico State, runs the cross-cultural and leadership programs for the Student Activities Office. Carter oversaw the opening of the Cross Cultural Leadership Center (CCLC) in late 2007, a program that has taken off and become a bridge in the Chico State community, bringing together diverse groups.

“That’s the key to success in America,” Carter said. “An inclusive society will form a more successful nation.” read more