I am a former student of Mrs. Morales. I had her in 7th and 8th grade for Beginning Spanish and Spanish 1 Honors. I was nervous going into this class because I didn’t really know what to expect; would it be really difficult, would I make friends, would my Spanish accent sound remotely good? Once I entered that class I knew that none of my worries would ever trouble me, and it was all because of Mrs. Morales. She was (still is) outgoing, funny, and made you feel welcome into a culture that was completely different from my everyday life.
I remember the first week of my 7th grade year we played this game where we had to repeat everyone’s name in front of you in Spanish and then repeat your name in Spanish (e.g. Ella se llama …., El se llama…, Mi nombre es…, etc.) then onto the next person, and the process repeats. After this moment I knew that we were actually going to learn Spanish not just sit around and do busy work. I was
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We even made sugar Day of the Dead skulls to help really appreciate how Mexicans celebrate this holiday. This is only one of the fun things we did in her class to make the Spanish language and culture more interesting. She is hands down one of my favorite teachers and I loved her so much that I would go eventually go on an EF tour trip with her to Europe and other fellow students. I knew this was a once and a lifetime opportunity and I begged my parents to let me go with my favorite teacher. They finally let me go after I agreed to help pitch in with the cost. That trip was the best thing that ever happened to me and I was able to make memories that will last a life time. Visiting the Eiffel tower, riding the London underground, visiting Las Ramblas in Spain, an unexpected stay in Amsterdam were amazing experiences in itself, but what made it all better was the surrounded by people who I loved and cared about. I enjoyed every minute I spent with Mrs. Morales
When it was my time to go to the U.S., I was eight years old, fluently only in Spanish with a Dominican accent. You see there is Spanish but then there's Dominican Spanish, and from there
The amazing political stand that my great great grandmother took as a Mexican revolutionary woman also known as an adelita is something to definitely to be proud of, because that’s another person in my family that has fought for equality. Another vital factor in my heritage is our belief in La Virgen De Guadalupe. There are portraits and other objects of worship around my house in her honor. In the living room, there’s a portrait of her and in late October and early November, we put pictures of our passed loved ones along with candles around her for Dia De Los Muertos. We pray to her and on December 12th (her birthday) we proclaim our love and gratefulness for her, and on Spanish stations you can watch celebrities singing to her at a church in Mexico
Transitioning from Spanish to English was the most difficult thing ever. At age six I
Spanish should be required to be taken as a second language in grades K-9. American students should be required to speak Spanish fluently upon completion of their 8th grade year. Other societies such as Pakistan, Japan, and China can demonstrate proficiency in 3 or 4 languages by middle school years. "A child taught a second language after the age of 10 or so is unlikely ever to speak it like a native," said a February 1996 Newsweek article. Through extensive research it has been proven that the earlier a child is introduced to a second language the greater the chances are that this child will master both languages. A number of experts attribute this mastery to physiological changes that occur in the maturing brain as a child enters puberty.
Many people immigrate to the United States from different countries to begin a better life. Once in the American territory, the first step for success is to learn the English language. Richard Rodriguez, the writer of "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" describes the language decisions he faced as a child: "Outside the house was public society; inside the house was private" (16). The English language is the primary language in the United States, and it must be learned to be able to communicate with the public world. The language that we speak at home is considered to be private because it is only used in the presence of the people we feel comfortable with, our family. Families immigrate to the United States from Mexico to find and give their children a better opportunity to succeed. The children of immigrants who have been raised or born in the United States were able to adapt much faster to the English language. The Spanish language, in the case of Mexicans, is part of our origin that most of us inherit from our ancestors although in the United States many, including me, seem to add a new language, which gives us better opportunities.
...he gets them confused with the Spanish alphabet. Then we would go around the apartment getting familiar with everything and its' name. At first I was just tutoring Jesica, but then slowly members of her family where adding to the study group and soon everybody was trying to learn English. I didn't care because it was fun and I like the feeling of helping all of them learn something. Not only was I helping them, they begin to start helping me learn Spanish as well. It was sort of like I tell you and you tell me. They were always laughing at me because I spoke Spanish horribly and they thought that my accent was funny. It was funny to me that I know basically no Spanish and they knew no English but we were still able to communicate. That is an experience that I will never forget and I plan on tutoring them and they tutor me until I graduate college in May 2006.
Language, whether oral, or written is the primary type of interaction we have. In “Learn! Learn!” by Hugo Martinez-Serros, the author stress the importance of language and education in society rather than your social class. He shows the importance of language to us by outlining the everyday life of a hard working Mexican that lingers in developing his authorship, and really likes to criticize the writing of the higher class enlightened priest. He lives in the south side of Chicago, and in his spare time he loves to study and critic others writings for improvement.
When I first came to this country, I wasn’t thinking about the language, how to learn it, use it, write, how I’m going to speak with people who are next to you and you want to talk to them. My first experience was in Veterans School, it was my first year in school here in United States, and I was in eight grades. The first day of school you were suppose to go with your parent, especially if you were new in the school, like me. What happened was that I didn’t bring my dad whit me, a woman was asking me a lot of questions and I was completely loss, I didn’t have any idea of what she was telling me and I was scare. One funny thing, I started cry because I fell like frustrate, I didn’t know no one from there. Someone seat next to me, and ask me in Spanish what was wrong and I just say in my mind thanks God for send me this person, then I answered her that I didn’t know Engl...
She then told us all about her youth. I learned one important thing that although some parts of Mexico do follow the stereotypes that many Americans have put on their culture, there are places that don’t. We learned that how you’re raised just depends on how fortunate your family is and where they live. Mexico has huge cities, some which are huge tourist destinations, which have prestigious schools, with great nursing, architectural, business, and engineering programs. Sadly that was not the course life had chosen for her. She said she went to a small community school, which unlike here in America, was not free and had to be paid for. Most of the people in her town only made it up to the 6th or 7th grade, because their parents could no longer afford to pay for their education or they had to work to help pay bills at the house. Her parents were a bit more fortunate and managed to pay for her to graduate from “la prepa” (a school to prepare her for the university basically like our high schools here in the U.S). She said school down there was a privilege, and wasn’t taken for granted like many people do here in the
Writing poses as a great challenge for me; I can barely speak coherently with a person one-on-one. Ironically, though I have not mastered the English language, I’m minoring in Spanish. I was not gifted with the greatest linguistic skills, however, I nonetheless still pursue Spanish because I appreciate the Spanish culture and enjoy attempting to perform the accent authentically. I took AP Spanish in high school, received 7 credits by taking the exam, and want to improve my speaking skills and eventually reach a level of fluency.
I remember moving to a new school and not knowing the language. Students helped me learn French and it seemed so hard at first. Sometimes, students did not always teach me the nicest things to say, such as profanity, but everything was fun and new. Teachers were very nice and understanding due to the fact that I ...
I was not used to talking English all the time, which was a major culture shock for me. I was so used to talking Spanish in school, in restaurants and in stores, that it never occurred to me that it would be the opposite here in Nebraska. Another thing was that nearly everyone was Caucasian. I was considered a minority in this new community. Which I was completely unaware that there was such a thing until I grew older. I was confused and nervous starting a new school because I thought I was going to be the only Mexican in the class. Turns out I wasn’t, I was
I did notice learning Spanish at an early age helped me retain vocabulary over a long period of time. Even though I did not learn a large amount of vocabulary and grammar, what I did learn stuck with me for years. When I finally revisited Spanish in high school, I had to learn the basics all over again. The structure of the class did not make it easy for me to remember much vocabulary after the semesters, or even after a few class periods. I think there were a number of reasons why I never retained as much Spanish as I did in kindergarten compared to when I learned it in high
Knowing nothing about the language and then suddenly having to learn how to read and write gave me big obstacles to overcome. During, elementary school through 6th grade I went to a bilingual school. We had a month of all English courses and then one month of all Spanish courses rotating along the school year. During, this time I learned how to read and write in English. Also how to use past, present, and future tenses while incorporating them into sentences. Not only was this difficult for me, but also having to read in front of classmates was embarrassing. Every time I would have to read out loud I could feel my face get hot and red. However, not only did I have to learn a new language and have an accent with it, but I also had to face the criticism from others who knew the language and had no struggle with
In fact, I cannot think of a day she was not smiling. I can describe her as a happy, passionate person who loved her job and everything she did. Her personality really shined through when she would greet us in the morning and especially throughout the whole day. I feel like Mrs. Alvarado truly impacted my life as a student and as an individual. She is the very reason why I want to be a teacher. In fact, I want to incorporate the same qualities into my work and inspire my students just as she did for me. Overall, I want to be that teacher who impacts her students and shapes them into becoming responsible and respectful individuals. I want to be that teacher that my students will remember