resources for bilingual education, foreign language education, teaching/learning English as a second/foreign language

Charity Dell, a librarian at the Plainfield Public Library in Plainfield, NJ, recently compiled this valuable list of online resources for bilingual education, foreign language education, teaching/learning English as a second/foreign language. She's very interested in language education; she speaks Spanish every day with patrons at the library, wants to learn Spanish and French, and is currently working on a TESL certificate. She points out that her school district has 54 languages represented among their students--and this diversity is not unusual in our country. Bringing up Baby Bilingual readers are welcome to contact her directly at jubilate7@yahoo.com with questions or comments (and/or share them with the other readers by clicking on "comments" at the end of this post). Here's what Charity wanted to share (some have already been discussed on this blog, but they bear repeating!):

1. Languages currently spoken in the United States:
A. There are now 337 languages spoken or signed in the United States.
B. Several states and territories are officially or de facto bi- or tri-lingual:

• American Samoa (Samoan and English)
• Guam (Chamorro and English)
• Hawaii (English and Hawaiian)
• Louisiana (English and Cajun French)
• New Mexico (English and Spanish)
• Northern Mariana Islands (English, Chamorro andCarolinian)
• Puerto Rico (Spanish and English)

C. Here's a good article about Spanish in the United States.

2. Resources for parents, students, and educators:

• National Association for Bilingual Education
• Information about the AMIGOS Program
• Parent Links: Second Language Learning (This is a huge collection of websites to help parents develop their children's language skills.)
• The Advantages of Multilingualism
• Bilingual Children's Mother Tongue: Why Is It Important for Education?
• Spanish Workshop For Children--Parent Resources
• Bilingual Children
• Bilingual Parenting (two different sites; click on each word)
• Raising Children Bilingually (three different sites; click on each word)

3. Great websites for developing multilingual children:

• Multilingual Children
• Multilingual Munchkins
• Multicultural Kids
• Culture for Kids
• Bilingual Books for Kids
• Bilingual Kids
• Bilingual Families Connect
• Bilingual Families Web Page

4. TESOL/ESL/TESL Resources (This is the "MOTHER OF ALL ESL LINKS"--everything and multiple links to ESL websites for parents, students and teachers, including a great list of links for bilingual education.)

On behalf of myself and the readers of Bringing up Baby Bilingual, thank you, Charity!