Marisol Arriola Page 1
English 1121
Kim Liao
02/05/2019

Living in The United States
Growing up in a Spanish house hold, it being my first spoken language. At such a young age I realized the power of understanding and using words. Both of my parents immigrated from Mexico at a young age, no clue or idea of how speak English they managed to start from nothing to something in New York. My parents at a very young age thought me that education is the way you express yourself with words are the key to a successful future.

Being able to read and understand Spanish made it difficult at first to learn the language English, it wasn’t as easy for me as it was for other kids to be able to sound out a word and spell it with no problem. At a young age in the United States every kid in school was thought to read, write, and talk English, I mean it’s the number one language spoken in this country. It was around second grade when I started to understand and read longer words helping me increase my vocabulary use and imagination. However, as I grew older and became more fluent in both English and Spanish, fluent enough I was able to translate for my parents around age six. From English to Spanish I’ve realized how gifted I am to be bilingual.

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As I grew older, I automatically knew I was supposed to translate for my parents everywhere we go. From the doctor’s office, to parent teacher conference, meeting, and appointments I was always prepared. Literacy to me means the ability to read and write, it means that you have gain enough skills that you could teach it to someone else or at least translate. When I tell you, I was prepared for any situation where I had to translate, I mean it. In compression with Amy Tan essay “Mother Tongue” she tells her readers about how growing up most people used to make fun of her mother’s broken English “some say they understand none of it, as if she was speaking pure Chinese. But to me my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural”. My mom herself kind of understood English but couldn’t speak it fluently, in my middle school parent teacher conference I would always translate but in the process of translating to my mom I would make myself sound like the most hardworking students. I mean my grades were never that bad, but my attendance was not the best.
Probably not the nicest thing to do to your mom but after this scenario I’ve realized my choice of words and the way I use them to explain myself is the perfect way to communicate with anyone. Growing up in New York city being bilingual is a bonus, you’ll most definitely get the job, understand better, and have many more

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Opportunities all because you can speak both English and Spanish. Language is an example of literacy. It uses all the requirements literacy requires, not as easy to learn but it’s okay because no one learns overnight. It takes time, patience, and dedication to want to learn and understand a new language. However the beauty of language is that as soon as you get the hang of it it’s like being introduced to a different category of people. The more you expand the more you will understand different cultures, English is pretty hard language at first but afterwards you tend to realize it’s pretty simple language that’s has a wide variety of words .

In conclusion literacy has played a huge role in my life. Learning how to speak, read , and write both English and Spanish at the same time wasn’t as easy as it sounds . Nothing that’s not impossible thought, I gained the necessary literal skills in school at a young to help me master this language. This was a huge advantage for my parents because I was able to translate for them and help them understand what others were saying. My parents will always tell me that learning a new language will open many doors for me in the future, communication is the key to success .