THE TEACHERS OF BILINGUAL STUDENTS IN NEW MEXICO NEED ADDITIONAL TRAINING TO WORK WITH THOSE STUDENTS FROM THE LINGUISTICALLY AND CULTURALLY IMPOVERISHED AREAS OF THE STATE. THOSE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE MUST BE PREPARED TO COMMUNICATE INTERCULTURALLY AS WELL AS LINGUISTICALLY IF THEY ARE TO PENETRATE THE REAL WORLD OF THE MEXICAN AMERICAN. FOR THE TEACHERS TO ACQUIRE ADEQUATE SKILLS OF UNDERSTANDING, READING, WRITING, AND SPEAKING, IT WILL BE NECESSARY FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND--(1) THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE, (2) THE NATURE AND KINDS OF INTERFERENCE FROM ONE LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER, (3) THOUGHT PROCESSES AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, (4) LANGUAGE AND ITS RELATION TO CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT, (5) PHONOLOGY, MORPHOLOGY, AND SYNTAX, (6) METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION, AND (7) MATERIALS FOR LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION. TEACHERS WHO ARE ALREADY EFFECTIVE DO ADAPT AND BECOME COMPETENT SECOND LANGUAGE TEACHERS. IT IS FELT, HOWEVER, THAT THE UNIVERSITIES COULD BE OF GREATER SERVICE TO THE BILINGUAL COMMUNITIES BY AFFORDING STUDENT-TEACHERS THE NEEDED SUPERVISED FIELD EXPERIENCES IN SECOND LANGUAGE CAPACITIES. FINALLY, A GOOD TEACHER RECRUITING PROGRAM IS NEEDED WHICH WOULD ASSURE THAT ALL TEACHERS WOULD HAVE A "FEEL" FOR THE BILINGUAL STUDENT AND HIS CULTURE. THIS PAPER WAS DELIVERED AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE SOUTHWEST COUNCIL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS, EL PASO, TEXAS, NOVEMBER 4-5, 1966. (ES)