Category: Discussions

English is thought of as a major language, a must-know to most of us. It doesn’t matter where you are from, what cultures and backgrounds you come from, here in America we all speak English. The same goes with other countries, they have their own language and their ways of communicating. But somehow America, especially New York City, is well known for its diversity and variety. We hear people speak different languages and see that they come from different places yet, some of us come together and manage to communicate. Also, everyone here in New York City gets the opportunity to learn and succeed. Knowing this we can relate to how we learn through education and learning. As kids, we attend public school, which is the most diverse and open way to get to know others. We come from different parts of the world and come together to learn the same language and have the same education. Having a diverse class prepares us to look at different perspectives and ideas and helps us be more creative with our learning. In the end, It is up to us to find our path and go our separate ways, only to come together and contribute all of the knowledge we have accumulated to build a better future for everyone in this world. 

Outside of school, food can be another important factor in how we communicate in a language we understand. Here in New York, food plays an important role and can even be considered a language.  As a document on the internet states, “Food Culture incorporates our ethnicity, cultural heritage and provides a mechanism of communication with others both externally and within our families and communities.” Food is important to all of us, and when we make a dish that has a lot of meaning to us we make it in a language that only we understand. But once we share, we all end up understanding, just like a language we all start not knowing.

I was born in a country located in Central America, where the official native language is Spanish. Like many immigrants, the time came when I had to start learning English as my second language. I learned my first words in English in school by reading children’s books which helped me improve my language skills, however, there came a time when I realized that I still had a hard time speaking and understanding conversations in English. My family could not help me although they tried to support me by teaching me the little that they knew. I mostly had to figure things out on my own. Learning English has been a difficult task for me that sometimes I feel dumb because I know people that learned English in a couple of years. Every time that I want to make a conversation in English I feel like a different person. I get nervous which makes me mess up the words and my brain stops working. Also when speaking English I often think that people would make fun of me which makes me feel insecure. To improve my English, I am trying to have the same confidence as when I speak Spanish because I believe that it can help me to better express myself and I would be able to talk to other people which can help build my English skills. Writing English also has been difficult to learn because many of the words sound the same for example tree and three or bird, bear, beer, and beard to me all of those words sound the same which makes me struggle a bit but I had amazing friends that had helped me with my writing skills they often the right way to spell words or correct my grammar. Learning English has been a challenge but I am feeling confident that one day I will be able to build and speak full conversation and confidence just like “my Spanish self”.