At the biblioteca publica de Edmondson Pike — the public library on Edmondson Pike — Kelvin Luna’s eyes went back and forth between two people, one reading a story in English and the other in Spanish. Kelvin, 5, participated in the Cuentos Bilingues, a bilingual story time, last week and seemed to understand both languages just fine. Next to him sat two little boys with their mother, Maria Barriga, who, with her sons, paid attention to both versions of a simple storyline.

“I’ve seen the popularity of the English as a Second Language learning materials in our library. … The need is clearly there, and we want to be the connection to extend learning as a lifelong activity for all the family.” That’s where Spanish-speaking volunteers come in. The Nashville library system has partnered with Book’em to make a bilingual story time a go. Book’em is a nonprofit that supplies volunteer readers at schools and day-care centers and distributes books to low-income families. Last year, the agency launched a Spanish-language version of Library Without Walls program, which distributes books to area children.

click here for article

search for : Cuentos Bilingues, English as a Second Language

bookmark this article to your choice of sites