Don’t make kids speak Spanish

Friday, July 20, 2001 | 4:48 a.m.

In response to William Fitzgerald's July 17 letter, "There are many good reasons to be bilingual": Forcing American schoolchildren to learn to speak the Spanish language will in time turn America into a Third World country -- just like the country the Mexicans came from.

If you wish to learn Spanish, go to Mexico and live with a Latino family -- that is your right as an American. Do I want to greet my Spanish-speaking neighbors with "hola" or "buenos dias" -- no! There's nothing wrong with a simple American "hello."

THERESA A. MATAGA

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