Growing up English was my first language and the only language I speak fluently. I speak English, write English, read English, and went to English speaking schools. I have always lived in the united states where English is the number one language used. It’s the language I use every day as well as the one used around me. I was born and raised in New Mexico with a lot of Hispanic influences and Spanish speakers around so I began to pick up on it. As a child when I was learning to speak English as I was also taught the basic stuff in Spanish too such as colors, animals, body parts, and numbers. But I wasn’t taught enough to consider myself fluent in Spanish because even if my family knew Spanish they mostly spoke English around me. English has …show more content…
I took 2 years of Spanish in high school as well as a year of Spanish in college but this still didn’t help me become fluent in Spanish. I choose to take Spanish because it covered a language requirement. Also because it’s so widely used in New Mexico that I knew it was important to know and be able to understand. I also think it’s a beautiful language. Spanish is still really hard for me to speak, read, or write since I have always spoke English and I’ve always preferred English. Since I lived in the United States my whole life where a good percentage of people speak English but I would love to go to a country where they speak Spanish for example Spain. Even if it’s widely used in New Mexico it would be different to go somewhere where that’s the main language spoken. Also because there’s a lot of different slang terms and certain things that are different everywhere. I also think it would be a good way to learn more of the language and understand it. An interesting thing that I would like to add was in high school I decided to try to learn German because my best friend had moved from Germany. I thought the language was beautiful so I decided to try to learn some of it, but that only lasted a couple of weeks and I don’t remember any of it now. I believe that my ancestors spoke Spanish and English since those are the two languages spoken within my family. I have never researched my ancestors
I came from Mexico when I was 4 years, and like many of us I did not know English. Little by little I became fluent until I now can dominate English. Many people come to this country for a better life, but once in this country, we notice how essential English is for our everyday life. Being bilingual can be very beneficial for anyone in this country. I may be fluent in English, but I still prefer speaking in the Spanish language. This may be because at home that is all we speak. Both my parents do not really know English much. It’s better for me to talk to them in Spanish. I can try to talk to them in English but there may be a few words they won’t
Speaking to someone in their native language is a great complement to that person. Most people do not care enough to learn the language of the country they are visiting. Some travelers expect the people to already know their language to the place that their traveling to. This being said, the ones who actually know the language to the place that they are traveling to, can hold a special place in the local heart. If a child grows up learning two languages, he/she will have a greater appreciation for, not just one, but both languages that they grew up learning, knowing and respecting. This can also be beneficial for school, homework, and tests. If that child knows both English and Spanish, and if they are discussing something that is related to Spanish, like history, that child could be interested since he/she g...
38 percent of all Hispanic parents only speak Spanish according to Pew Research center. In many cases this is why parents teach their children to speak Spanish for their first language. My parents learned English at a young age because they moved to the united states and were expected to know it. That was not the case for me. Growing up my family expected me to know English well.
In conclusion, learning English was a challenge when it was first introduced to me, but now I have overcome that challenge. I am able to defend myself in the outside public world of English with no shame at all. I now understand how fortunate I am to know another language different from my own. For me, it is important to still have my first language because it is a way to retain the Mexican culture. It is just the way I was raised to believe.
4 Dec. 2013. Roca, Ana, and Mara Cecilia Colombi, eds. “Mi Lengua: Spanish as a heritage language in the United States, research and practice.” Georgetown University Press (2003): 4-85. Google Scholar.
My parents did everything they knew to help my sister and I learn and respect our Mexican culture. Born into American culture but raised by Hispanic parents, often was difficult for me. Since I was little I had to manage and balance two very different cultures at the same time. There were many times while growing up that I encountered complex situations in regards to language, whether to speak Spanish or English and when it was appropriate. I felt a lot of pressure having to act as an interpreter for my parents when we were out in public. At home I was told to speak Spanish so I would not forget, but at school I was taught to only speak English with my teachers and friends. However, when we would go visit family in Mexico, I was expected to only speak in Spanish, since speaking in English in front of family members who only spoke Spanish was seen as disrespectful. So learning two languages has been very beneficial to my life and for my family. By
According to the 2011 census, over 20.8 percent of the United States population spoke another language other than English (www.us-english.org). Language barriers, cultural differences, and immigration have been a part of life in the United States for decades. Language is considered a vital tool in the construction of someone’s identity and an expression of culture. In the last 200 years immigrants have chosen to make the United States their home, but some proceeded with caution by slowly adapting to the English language and culture.
I think the point at which everything I learned in the course previous to my time in Guanajuato formed from information into knowledge and paved that road for all the rest of my experiences there was during a meeting with some Mexican University of Guanajuato students. One student, who I later came to know as Adán, during our conversation asked our group why we study Spanish. After a few of us gave answers listing our hope to forge friendships with Mexican immigrants in the US or to be able travel in Latin and South America, we were blown away by the answer that Adán believed was the real reason in all of us-to come into their country to dominate and take over. First of all, this blew my mind! I had never thought of that as a motive for learning Spanish, but apparently this Mexican student believed it was Americans' number one reason! After first being appalled at his stereotypes of Americans, I realized that I wanted to uncover the reasons behind this strong and real belief and to change his mind about all Americans being this way.
When I was a child my dad, and my grandparents taught me how to speak Spanish before I could learn how to speak English. As I continued to learn more and more words, Spanish became my first language, I spoke it fluently, and English came second. When I was ready to start Pre-K, my dad taught me to write in English other than in Spanish. It was hard to learn how to write my letters without knowing them in English and only in Spanish. I would confuse my E’s
In the United States, the language we know as Spanish is so prevalent that most automated voice messaging systems use it as a second option, the majority of stores feature it as another language option on their pin pads, and more importantly it is in fact considered the second most widely spoken language in the U.S. Spanish is part of our everyday lives not just as far as the people who live here and speak it, but the cultural traditions we have adopted from other Spanish speaking countries. America would not be the same without Spanish cultural influence, and not only that, there are beneficial reasons behind learning the Spanish language and the meanings and influences of its culture
Everyone is a part of a community. Most people are a part of multiple communities. A community is a group of people that have a commonality. Sometimes it is based on where you live, hobbies, goals, etc. I believe that communities are created unconsciously and are connected to someone’s identity, especially when a person is considered a part of multiple communities. Sometimes, a person may connect very well with their community. Sometimes, a person may feel very distant from their community. In the movie, “English Vinglish”, the main character, Sashi, shows examples on how communities are created through commonalities, and the acculturation theory. Sashi was a part of multiple communities. A few communities included her, her Daughter’s school,
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
The English language arose from the early Anglo Saxon inhabitants in ancient England and spread to Scotland and other European countries via the British Empire and later to the United States through colonial political and economical influences. It later dispersed to other parts of the world through these same influences to become one of the leading languages of the world. It has over the years developed by adopting different dialects to create a language, which is the standard lingual Franca in many countries. The rapid growth of the English language and its adoption by different cultures across the globe is sufficient ground to make it the global language.
English is an international language of communication (Nunan, 2003). So that English is a necessary basic skill for human. For instance, we meet lots of people who came from different countries in our daily life. Since our mother language is different, we can use English to be a lingua franca to communicate with them and try to understand their culture easily.
In most institutions of learning today, the classes are made up of students from different ethnic backgrounds. These have different traditions and also speak different languages. In a typical classroom, the majority of the students will speak the same language. The teacher must then employ strategies which will accommodate all the students in the class. This will ensure that every learner gets the best quality of education. This will enable them to be better prepared for career and expressing themselves. In this paper, strategies to assist learners of the English language in their literal development for third grade learners. In the paper, three strategies that can be used by the teacher will be discussed. New strategies and research that will help the English language learners to gain in depth mastery of the language will also be discussed. Due to the widespread learning of the English language in most schools, addressing issues of the language learners is of vital importance. Teachers should have the understanding that cultures are what give someone identity and therefore no student should leave their culture for another. Instead, there should be the blending of different cultures so that students can appreciate and learn from each other.