Bilingual Learning

I have been following the bilingual education issue in The Times. It was a relief to read in “No Change, Gracias” (March 14) by Fred Alvarez that all is well in Ventura County schools.

A colleague and I taught bilingual classes in a junior high school in Woodland Hills. We had good results, and we had both taken night classes at USC to get our credentials for bilingual education.

I would like to ask those people who oppose bilingual education to picture themselves in a Spanish class in Spain or Mexico, trying to follow the teacher in rapid-fire Spanish. Would you learn anything? Would you be able to follow the instructors in any subject?

Better still, how about classes in Tokyo--in Japanese? Do any better there?

LILLIAN RAE

Oxnard