As he sits down, he begins to smile. It's an innocent smile, but I can't tell if it's excitement or nervousness. He covers his face and chuckles into his hands. Wait until he starts asking questions. She states her full name, Maricel Yvette Montalvo Rodriguez, moved to the United States from Puerto Rico in 2010 at the age of six. He was already fluent in Spanish when he arrived in the United States. When she started school, she was enrolled in the English immersion program. The program was supposed to help her learn English as a second language. He followed the program for about two years to improve his skills in speaking, reading and writing in English. After finishing the program, she was enrolled in regular classes. Maricel has gained enough skills to speak English fluently, but has lost the ability to read and write in her native language. She finishes speaking and stares at her friend. Her friend stares at Maricel, confused as to why he was looking at her and not me. She states her full name with a straight face, Hannah Kabura Kariuki, born and raised in Kenya, a Swahili speaking country. In 2009 Hannah moved to the United States; at age five she was also enrolled in the English Immersion program as a kindergartener. Hannah was fluent in Swahili, and the year-and-a-half program gave her the English skills needed to be enrolled in regular classes. Unfortunately, today Hannah cannot read, write or speak Swahili fluently. English has always been the unofficial language of choice in the United States. Historically it has never been a “monolingual country” (Driscoll 1). Over the years the United States has experienced a lot of cultural diversity even though it "has not valued education... middle of the paper... education. Most colleges and careers emphasize the idea of bilingual education, because of the skills you will need in the real world. Works Cited Clouthier, Kris. November 21, 2003." October 9, 2015. Driscoll, Sally, and Geier B. Denise. "Counterpoint: America's Future Depends on Bilingual Education." 2015. Lee M. and Maureen McMahon. "English Immersion Is a proven teaching method." of bilingual education." Point of View: Bilingual Education. Point of View Reference Center, 2015. Web. 7 October. 2015.