I know a lot of Spanish vocabulary, but most of these words were unfamiliar to me. I bet you heard of the study that found most children know more brands than plant names.

Yes, I heard of that study, but it's still very scary. I wonder how much more we would have been able to learn about Costa Rican plants and animals if I'd taken the time to really learn Spanish before we went? I've been going through my notebooks and looking at the few Spanish common names I have, thinking "If that plant has a common name, I'll bet there's at least one fascinating story that goes along with it." But with the language barrier, I seem to have missed most of them.

I wonder if it's considered a language barrier between children and nature nowadays?

I agree it is integral to an experience in a country that speaks a foriegn language to learn it. But in Costa Rica, there are two main languages to the best of my knowlege. (Spanish AND English) We did the best we could.

I would like to add to the discussion however something you should throw into your blog in more detail I believe. The United States is not or should not be a nation that speaks solely one language. The anti-immigrant people seem to want to deny that we are a diverse nation, especially when it comes to chicanos.

Do you know that California legislation says that laws must be written in both English and Spanish.

I remember being in a Spanish college class with a hero of a teacher at Emory and Henry. She taught me a valuable lesson - that thinking the United States are a nation of a single language is a terrible mistake.

I do not think you, Anna, are doing this. But I would like to see this more of an issue in this part of your blog.

Immigrants have it really hard in this country. We need people speaking up for the immigrants who are Caucasion Americans just as much as any other minority group needs support.

Wow now I have worked myself up in a tissy over this. Maybe I will try and take another spanish class. Sorry this is more of a letter than a simple comment.

You've got a good point that Monteverde, especially, was very bilingual. But the English-speakers probably weren't the old timers I would have needed to talk to to learn ethnobotany. Instead, what I learned about plants was filtered through the American scientists, which did give me a fascinating perspective, but perhaps not a well rounded one.

I agree with everything you said about immigration, and would add that immigrants fill a lot of jobs that Americans are too spoiled to fill. But I'm not sure what the common person can do about it. (Except vote against leaders who try to put through laws like the ones recently enacted in Arizona.) Any ideas?

I recommend you read Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louve.

Mom has my copy and is reading it now.

It goes into some extensive detail about how ADD and ADHD increase when children are not exposed to nature.

I haven't read that book, but I did read a review of it. I certainly know that since we moved to the farm and spend so much time outdoors and just, in general, looking out at the world, I've been a lot more focused.

I accidentally deleted your comment in moderation. I'm reposting it as me below.

I think there are a number of things people can do.

1. Volunteer for an immigrant center (I did that in Highlands NC). There are other locations that help immigrants near you gain skills, and collect food and clothes for unemployed ones.

2. APEC (our local peace group) used to have an anual fiesta in which they shared food and celebrated immigrants, while exchanging language skills. There has recently been talk on the Apec Discussion list about possibly doing something like this again. I will send you the stream of emails if you want.

3. That is why I think you and Mark should extend your Spanish learning beyond eating out at Mexican restraunts. Imagine what it would be like if you located a Spanish speaker who wanted lessons and you exchanged language lessons with them. Like the idea?

I've been looking for someone to exchange language lessons with, but finding someone seems to be harder than you might think. So far, I have the local librarians looking out for someone for me --- they do often have Hispanic folks turn up who are specifically looking for books to help them with English, so maybe they'll be able to hook me up with a conversational partner. Next time we go to the Mexican restaurant, I'll ask there too. I know we have quite a Hispanic population right around where I live, but finding someone seems to be harder than one might think.