This has been another busy week for me. I’ve been tackling so many seemingly unrelated activities. For instance, I was working on a PHP  programming code for one client then I jumped into some editing for another. Created some hand-drawn illustrations for a book (I help people self-publish). Designed a layout for a newsletter. Coordinated with a few gardeners for my Property Management business. Clarified some of the HOA (Home Owner’s Association) policies regarding neighborhood trash. Surprised my wife with a new vegetable recipe of “pinakbet” — a Filipino dish (she said it was the best one she ever tasted). Practiced my reading lines for a church presentation at the end of the month. Studied for a Counseling class that my wife and I are attending. Coordinated with some vendors for another book that I am doing. Whenever I get stuck or feel stress coming, I pick up my guitar and let my subconscious figure things out. I followed up with old friends to see how they were coping with their complex relational situations. Prayed with them.  Followed up with a potential client (I will be building his website in 2 weeks) and increased my B2B network. Still need to respond to a couple of emails and send out some invoices. Currently working on a digital vector graphics for a newsletter which is why I am rushing this email.

The other day, I had a conversation with a young man who said he wanted to be an entrepreneur like me. I told him it takes a certain personality to become one. I’m sure this is pretty typical for you entrepreneurs like me. We’re like octopuses juggling several projects at a time. I remember my Mama Lou (one of my aunts) who made a comment I will always remember. She said “there was never a time I was never busy.” She was right. I am always finding something to do. Even when I am “relaxing” in front of the TV, I am planning out something. It’s the story of my life.

I don’t know about you but I am blessed to be able to do so many things and have fun at the same time. Isn’t it great to feel you help shape the world or make a difference in some people’s lives just a little bit? If you have responsibilities, if you have people depending on you … it’s a great feeling.

Blessings to you all and … aren’t you glad it’s Friday?

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” 
— Colossians 3:23

TGIF people!

English Confusion

Shared by Tom of Pasadena, CA

Superior Canadian Healthcare?
Sent by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

Took me a while to figure out what was happening without reading the caption. The patient, still high on medication after an operation, is super impressed at the Canadian Healthcare for fixing her left foot. Problem is, she’s impressed at the wrong foot.

WATCH VIDEO

Flying Bathtub
Sent by Rodney of Manitoba, BC

You read that right — a Flying Bathtub.

WATCH VIDEO

Besa Me Mucho
Sent by Art of Sierra Madre, CA

It isn’t super entertaining but I did watch it till the end. Nice to have a little Spanish music once in a while. I think I will learn this song so I can say I can sing something in Spanish.

WATCH VIDEO

Don’s Puns

From Don’s collection of puns

Parting Shot

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood, CA who shared this photo

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Why don’t we all know Spanish?

Nationwide, efforts are underway to make education more practical — to teach the skills best suited for economic viability. Much of this is regional; for example, a company requiring specific capabilities partnering with local colleges to equip students with those skills. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has proposed a litmus test for new immigrants that includes English proficiency. Though his immigration reforms are flawed, it’s undeniable that English fluency provides expanded options for employment and assimilation.

But by definition, assimilation means absorbing new information and experiences into our lives. It need not be a one-way street.

Latinos comprise about 17 percent of America’s population — easily the largest group whose traditional language isn’t English. The figures are higher in New York City with nearly 28 percent, and 20.5 percent on Long Island.

California takes the prize with about 14.99 million Latinos living in the state, edging out 14.92 million English language speakers.

Moving toward a Spanish-fluent society would reap benefits, from business opportunities to cultural cohesiveness.

For many, our professions include regular contact with clients, partners and others whose first language isn’t English. It’s also worth noting, despite Trump’s efforts at downplay and denigration, the still-interdependent trading relationship between the United States and Mexico.

Spanish also is valuable in sales and other blue-collar sectors. An outsized portion of the metropolitan area’s patients and consumers claim Spanish as a first language. Conversing with consumers in their native tongue is a selling point; in expanding industries such as health care, it’s also a safety issue.

Cultural benefits are equally vast. With Latinos comprising so sizable a percentage of our area and nation, a one-way language mandate between large swaths of U.S. residents no longer makes sense. Though assimilation into America’s melting pot has, should and will continue to include learning English, this needn’t come at the expense of common-sense practicality.

The streets don’t lie: Restaurant signs, car radios and sidewalk banter showcase that Spanish has become our homeland’s unofficial second language. Inflexible sentiments of English-only assimilation contradict both our cultural openness and the spirit of American innovation.

The key to fluency lies in our schools, where Spanish should start earlier and continue longer. Other languages should be offered, too — but in addition to Spanish. This sort of practical precedence would lead to far more students graduating high school with Spanish language mastery rather than baseline, easy-to-forget familiarity.

Ontario, Canada, whose neighboring province of Quebec claims French as its primary tongue, has an effective, imitable second-language system. Students there take compulsory French from grades four through eight and, in high school, they can take immersion classes that teach other subjects only in French. These courses encourage sink-or-swim proficiency — a fast track to fluency.

Census figures suggest that by 2020, more than half of U.S. children will be non-white. New York City is already there: Of its 1.1 million public school students, nearly 41 percent are Latino — just shy of the total percentage of Euro-American and African-American students combined. Even without compulsory Spanish, the United States will likely have more Spanish speakers by 2050 than any other country, even Mexico.

Nationally, and especially locally, trends point to an American future told in Spanish as well as English. Our schools should embrace the opportunity — and duty — to prepare children for that future, one already unfolding before our eyes and ears.

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