The variety of languages ​​that surround our nation makes it a very diverse place to live and a comforting one too. There are hundreds of languages ​​spoken right now and it is the only factor that keeps a culture alive. Although many children are raised to accept who they are and where they come from, attending school in the United States of America may contradict their pride as English is used as the dominant medium of communication. This encounter forced these children to know and speak fluently two languages: the language of their homeland and the one spoken at school. Coming from a culture where two languages, Chamorro and English are spoken, many Chamorro children are forced to become bilingual. Despite their ability to speak different languages, the two languages ​​often contradict each other. This results in communication problems and academic deficiencies. However, speaking two languages ​​fluently does not impact the learning abilities of children within the American education system due to the overdiagnosis of learning disabilities among bilingual children and the rewarding effects of being bilingual. Merriam Webster defines bilingual as a person's ability to speak two languages ​​fluently while monolingual is the ability to speak only one. Today, the number of bilingual children in America is at an all-time high. According to Lauren Lowry, Hanen certified speech-language pathologist, “In the United States, 21% of school-age children (ages 5 to 17) speak a language other than English at home” and “This number is expected to increase in the coming years ”. Furthermore, its statistics show that “Worldwide, it is estimated that there are more children according to the...... middle of paper ......le America as a nation.Works CitedE. Glyn Lewis. Bilingualism and bilingual education: a comparative study. University of NewMexico Press, 1980. Print. Guadalupe Valdes and Richard A. Figueroa. Bilingualism and testing: A special case of prejudice. Third printing, 1996. Print Lauren Lowry. Bilingualism in young children: Separating fact from fiction. The Hanen Center, 2011. Web. May 10, 2014Daniel Olson. How does being bilingual affect learning? National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2014. Web. May 10, 2014Viorica Marian Ph.D and Anthony Shook. The cognitive effects of being bilingual. The Dana Foundation, 2012. Web. 10 May 2014Alessandra Hickson. Education Nation: The real benefits of being bilingual. NBC Latino, 2012. Web. May 10, 2014AOL Jobs Contributor. Why it pays to be bilingual. Aol Jobs, 2009. Web. 10 May 2014