One World, Three Languages

Growing up in a household where my parents only spoke Spanish, as a child I felt as if I only needed to speak Spanish towards them because at school I spoke English to my friends and siblings. I went to a diverse elementary school never heard anyone speak to each other in a different language besides English. I was also taught to write in English and sometimes in cursive, till this day I still know how to write in cursive. One day there was a transfer student named Rosa and her native language was Spanish but struggled with English, during that time the teacher paired us together. Knowing that I spoke two languages, I was able to use it to help someone understand. Relating it to the same situation where I would have to transfer English wording to Spanish to help my mom understand clearly.    

I never saw it as a big thing, help my mom translate sentences that were on paper or verbally, came naturally. It improved my Spanish everytime I had to translate so when Rosa came along, she was well more spoken in Spanish then I was. There would be times I struggled with some words in Spanish and she was there to correct me, as I did when she need help pronouncing words from the text. At the moment I didn’t realize how much of an impact we both had on each other lives. I didn’t take any Spanish course in school but I learned how to improve my writing when sending text messages towards my parents or having to read their text messages. I wouldn’t say my Spanish in writing and reading is 100% perfect because there would be times I would go to google translate to get some extra help.

In middle school there was a time where I was placed into bilingual classes for a year, taking me out of “regular” english classes. Bilingual education is the process of teaching students using two languages, one being their native language while the other one is English. Most of the time there would be non-English speaking children and in some ways I thought having programs to focus on certain students who need the extra help was useful for their writing and reading. In this moment of my life, I thought it was pointless for me to be in a bilingual class when I didn’t struggle pronouncing or writing in English. Of course, I need improvements in my Spanish but even then they taught in English. They helped out certain students who they thought needed it more than others. After that one year, I was removed from bilingual education and was placed into my old classroom and classmates. Being placed in bilingual education, I felt as if I had a negative outcome because it didn’t do much to improve my Spanish nor my English because it was going in a much slower pace.    

Language barrier is common in the US but it makes it difficult for people to communicate in a common language. Realizing that I had to help my mom in certain situation because language barrier, I could use it to help other people who needed the extra help. I would translate for other people if they were struggling because I wouldn’t want to see my mother in that situation. Speaking and writing in two language made me more skillful so why not learn another? In high school I took Italian, which was similar to Spanish because it doesn’t differ much in grammar. I took 3 years of Italian, where I had to learn how to read and write. In this class filled with 24 diverse students we were all in the same level on learning a new language. Having a teacher who was raised in Italy, he taught with a passion for his country and made it easier for us to understand. Although he taught with love for his country, after the 3 years we would have to take the regents to see if we have improve from sophomore year to senior year. I ended up passing it but I have utilize it since high school because I don’t know anyone who’s Italian, there was no reason for me to read or write in Italian.

Overall these three languages had an impact on my writing and reading. English played a huge part in my life because that’s the main language I speak to with everyone, when writing it’s the language I express my opinion or feelings down on paper, as of now I am writing it in English because that’s the language we share in common.

Learning how to write and read in English was a positive outcome because it lead me to meet certain people and improve my writing through the years. As for Spanish when I was taught from my parents on how to read, write and speaking it in the household it made me interact with other people who have a language barrier. One of the main reason why I want to major in nursing because I always wanted to help out people even in the simplest things as in translating. I already knew knowing another language made me more skilled, having a positive feedback in my life. Expect for the time I was placed into bilingual education for a year because I didn’t improve, especially in the pace they were going in. Getting the chance to learn another language that relates to your native language made it easier to read and write. Reading in a foreign language was the best ways to grow my vocabularies, strengthen my writing skills and absorb the language grammar. The person that I am now made me realize what you want is practice, it really doesn’t matter what we write down, as long as we write continually we will get further in any language.