Spanish agreed as CARICOM second language
By Mark Ramotar
Guyana Chronicle
October 13, 2003
DEPUTY Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ms. Lolita Applewhaite, has indicated that Spanish has been agreed on as the second official language of CARICOM and should be popularised throughout the region.
"CARICOM Heads of Government have agreed that as a matter of priority, there should be the introduction of programmes for achieving appropriate levels of competence in foreign languages, particularly Spanish and French among primary, secondary, and post-secondary graduates, and by the Community at large," Applewhaite said last week during her address at the addressing a National Awards ceremony at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown to honour outstanding performances by students over the last academic year.
"More importantly, CARICOM heads have agreed that in view of the Region's geographic location relative to Central and South America, and the increasingly closer relations between CARICOM and Latin America, including the Free Trade Area of the Americas, Spanish should become the second official language of CARICOM and should be popularised throughout the Region," Applewhaite said.
Noting that we began with one common language in the region, she pointed out that the Dutch speaking Republic of Suriname became a full member of CARICOM in 1995 and with the accession to full membership by Haiti in July 2002, CARICOM Member States now have three different languages, (although the official language of the community is English).
Additionally, we maintain close ties with Cuba, our Caribbean neighbour whose official language is Spanish and we are in close proximity to Latin America, she noted.
According to her, "in order to unify our position and break down psychological barriers that may exist, we must be able to understand and communicate with each other effectively".
In this context, the Deputy Secretary General of CARICOM made reference to the biblical tale of the Tower of Babel where the success of the plan to build a tower reaching the heavens was foiled when the builders discovered that they were divided linguistically. "We must not allow division by language to deter us from reaching the skies. Our ability to optimise the manner in which we engage our global partners and competitors is directly dependent on the ability to communicate in their languages," Applewhaite posited.
She also alluded that trans-lingual and trans-cultural understanding is essential if we are to achieve international competitiveness.
"Consequently, improved language skills, is an important dimension to the modernisation of our educational system," she said, adding that at the regional level, emphasis is being placed on developing multi-lingual skills at an early age.