The Seal of Biliteracy

/ Blog / By

2019/09/17
At this point in time, nearly every student in the US has returned to school across all 50 states. While teachers are preparing lessons, students are reuniting with friends, and parents are looking at schedules for the coming year, many states have been preparing and implementing an exciting new opportunity for language classrooms, the Seal of Biliteracy.

What is the Seal, you ask? The Seal of Biliteracy is an award given by a school, school district or county office of education in recognition of students who have studied and attained proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. 

In effect, students who are bilingual and can use these skills to communicate at a certain proficiency level (Intermediate-Mid or Intermediate-High on the ACTFL scale is generally accepted) are granted a seal on their diploma, which many colleges and jobs are already using as a factor when selecting students or hirees. The best part about the program is in most states you do not have to have learned the language in an academic setting to qualify for the Seal, being a heritage speaker at home, as long as you can communicate in all the appropriate modes, qualifies you. 

As of this writing, 36 states (and DC) have officially adapted the Seal. My home state, Maryland, has adapted the Seal of Biliteracy for over 40 languages, thanks to mix of AP testing (a test run by the College Board that provides students the opportunity to take college level classes and receive college credit by scoring well on the national test), IB (International Baccalaureate, an international standard that has testing similar to AP), and other alternative tests approved by the states on an individual basis, including American Sign Language and several less commonly taught languages that may be spoken at home, such as Yoruba and Hindi. More than simply an advantage in college applications, the Seal is embracing bilingualism as a positive instead of a challenge, and is motivating students an incentive to graduate that represents their heritage and their language as a positive instead of a negative.

If your state is not one of the states to have adapted the Seal, contact your local legislators about bringing this unique opportunity to your school or district. 

Kevin Martin

See our speaker event on the Seal of Biliteracy here: https://languagemuseum.org/past-events/

Further Reading:

Seal of Biliteracy FAQ

https://sealofbiliteracy.org/faq/

A New Marker of Success at Graduation: The Seal of Biliteracy 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/a-new-marker-of-success-at-graduation-the-seal-of-biliteracy/2017/06/02/240c79ce-46da-11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_story.html?noredirect=on

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Fanni is Radnóti's wife
Located near the Tang capital city of Chang’an, site of the modern city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province, in central China.
Soldiers of that time commonly wore a white head cloth, similar to what is still worn by some peasants in China today.  The implication is that the conscripts were so young that they didn’t know how to wrap their head cloths, and needed help from elders.
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
The area of Guanxi, meaning “west of the passes”, refers to the area around the capital city of Chang’an.
This is an alternative name for a province in western China, now known as Qinghai, which literally means “blue sea”.  Kokonor Lake, located in Qinghai, is the largest saline lake in China.  
Before China’s unification under the Qin dynasty in 221 B.C. there were several competing smaller kingdoms.  Han and Qin were two of these kingdoms. Han was located east of famous mountain passes that separated that area from the power base of the Qin dynasty, with its capital in Chang’an. The Qin dynasty itself only lasted about 15 years after unification due to its draconian rule, but soldiers under Qin rule retained a reputation as strong fighters.
Oulart Hollow was the site of a famous victory of the Irish rebels over British troops, which took place on May 27, 1798. The rebels killed nearly all the British attackers in this battle. (Source: Maxwell, W. H. History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. H. H. Bohn, London 1854, pp 92-93, at archive.org)
The phrase "United Men" is elaborated upon in the Notes section below.

Ghetto

An Italian word meaning “foundry.” It originally referred to a part of the city of Venice where the Jews of that city were forced to live; the area was called “the ghetto” because there was a foundry nearby. The term eventually came to refer to any part of a city in which a minority group is forced to live as a result of social, legal, or economic pressure. Because of the restrictions placed upon them, ghetto residents are often impoverished.

"You’re five nine, I am do-uble two"

A reference to the year 1959 and the year 2020.

"The Currency"

Meaning US dollars - this is drawing attention to the fact that Cuba is effectively dollarized.

"Sixty years with the dom-ino stuck"

This sentence is a reference to the Cold War notion that countries would turn Communist one after the other - like dominos. Cuba was the first domino, but it got stuck - no one else followed through into communism.

رحلنا

رحلنا, or "rahalna," means "we have left."

Habibi

Habibi means "my love."

Ra7eel

Ra7eel, or "raheel," means "departure."

3awda

3awda, or "awda," means "returning."

أهلاً

أهلاً, or "ahalan," means "welcome."

a5 ya baba

a5 ya baba, pronounced "akh ya baba," means "Oh my father."

golpe

Treece translates "golpe" as "beating", which is correct, however misses the secondary meaning of the word: "coup".

Carlos

The “Carlos” referred to in the poem is most likely Carlos Bolsonaro, a politician from Rio de Janeiro and the second son of Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s current president. His and his father’s involvement in Marielle’s murder has been questioned and investigated.