Essay On Conquering The Language Barrier

“Our culture, our traditions, our languages are the foundations upon which we build our identity.” - Unknown. The concept of bilingualism represents several different ideas, two writers share their personal stories about learning being immersed into the English culture and learning the language. They both share their views of what Bilingualism means to them personally and make arguments about the importance of the concept.

I was a very shy kid. Making friends wasn’t my cup of tea when I was younger. Based on this you can imagine how nervous I was when we moved. Joseph Campbell wrote in The Hero With a Thousand Faces, “It is only when a man tames his own demons that he becomes the king of himself if not of the world.” I was preparing to start school again in August when I decided it would be smart to begin associating with kids my age in the area; so, I began spending time with my cousin Lief. After spending some time with Lief, he introduced me to some of his friends and taught me to how to appreciate

I’d say that being bilingual it is something that has been implemented to my life at a very young age. I come from a Mexican family, a very traditional Mexican family, we love being together and always take advantage to celebrate in any occasion and if there is not a special occasion we make up one just to gather and have a good time. Most of my cousins understand and speak clearly English. Also my aunt married an American and the funny thing is that her children look completely American, in the sense that they are blonde, blue eyes, white skin, and they speak Spanish and English fluently, they are just 3 and 4 years old. What I’m trying to portray is that bilingualism is very present not only in the bilingual school I was enrolled as an infant, but it is very present as well in all of my family. I think that the best way to learn a language is to practice it continuously, but the best method out there is practicing it with native speakers and living on their country where that language is spoken. The journey on learning English for me has been very fun and enriching at the same time.

The school year approached its end. Another summer to spend alone by myself. The cycle had been repeating since I was in grade school. Sadness choked me as I returned home and shut my door. Every year, the resolution was the same: I would try to make friends next year; however, every year, I felt myself falling back down into the same trap. By the time high school began, I no longer felt the numb sensation of sadness or the flow of tears as the final day of May became the last day I talked with my “friends.” I no longer expected to make any friends, or, more accurately, I no longer expected to be able to make any friends. The sheer possibility of befriending an individual appeared to me as foreign as speaking in latin. When I walked into school, what should have been a site of chatter, opportunity, and growth appeared to me as a form of imprisonment and torture; however, unbeknownst to me, I did have friends; something of which I did not recognize until years passed by. I grown attached to certain conversations; there were times where I felt the need to initiate a conversation rather than waiting for someone else to make one. It was not until one of my friends told me,”We’re your friends aren’t we?” when I realized I was not longer

Throughout my childhood, it was a normal occurrence to hear three different languages in a single conversation. My father’s native language is Korean and my mother’s native language is Chinese. From my upbringing, I got to witness one of the struggles of an immigrant, which is learning English. Although my parents’ English is very good now, it took many years of practice. I often had to serve as a translator for my parents in public settings early on in my life. Not knowing English should not have to be a source of shame for an immigrant. However, I saw the embarrassment on my parents’ faces when I had to translate publicly for them. They worked endlessly every night in their college classes to become proficient in English, a skill that is easy for native speakers to take for granted. It made me realize the obstacles that immigrants face. To this day, my parents are still self-conscious about their speaking abilities. It has even influenced my mother’s career prospects. She has decided not to progress in her career, which requires teaching because she is afraid people will not like being taught by her because of her accent. Language is required to gain friendships, good jobs, and ultimately the power to

My first issue is reading because English is not my native tongue. Not being able to understand the language impacted the fundamental basics to learning to read in another language for me. When I started school, I was placed in what was then called, English as a Second Language (ESL), which was a program focused to force learning through

Regarding my elementary education, I had a disadvantage when I started school because in my home we only spoke Spanish. I did not know the language as well as other students in my class. This prevented me from doing well in school. Of course, I had to learn the language because my teachers did not know Spanish. Overall, language has always been a problem for my family. It is believed, and research demonstrates that many individuals

Being made to go through the whole process of becoming friends was not what I wanted. I had a lot of friends at Galena and had been friends with these kids since kindergarten. We had grown up together and I didn’t want to leave them so soon. My mom told me Baxter was only about 10 minutes away so that took the ease off a little. I had two really good friends who I did everything with. I remember wondering if they would be sad, or if I would get to see them anymore. The feeling of going to a new place and possibly not making any new friends frightened me. How long would it take me to make new friends, if I made any? All the worrying was for nothing though. I remember exactly what happened when I made my first friend at Baxter. I call to mind being anxious as I walked into my new classroom, feeling the glances of all my classmates. Thinking how uncomfortable I felt as all the kids talked about their summers with their friends and all the fun they had, when suddenly I heard someone say hi. I turned towards the voice and saw a small brown haired girl, who I would soon learn was Mallory. After learning each other’s names, she then asked me “Do you want to be friends?” and that’s how my first friendship started. I made many new friends that day and felt all my worries soon drift away. Though I didn’t know how well making new friends would go, at the time it was a frightening thought for me. With

Three years ago I was in seventh grade at Greendale Middle School. I had a significant amount of friends, but not all of them treated me with kindness. Margaret, Makenzie, Jennifer, Alyssa, Autumn , and Shelby were all considered my close friends. Even in third grade Margaret and Mackenzie were known as the popular girls in our school; soon after I moved to Cincinnati I found out that they were not very welcoming.

Throughout most of my life, my great grandparents were around. Both of them were right off the boat from Sicily, Italy. You could say they didn't have the best English. But, my family and I were able to understand their language almost perfectly. It was a language in which we had grown up around and became accustomed too. Their language could be described as "broken  English. They always had trouble going places, and often got frustrated when they didn't receive the same service that Americans did. They would find themselves asking their children or other family members to speak

Not knowing English forced my parents to work low paying restaurant jobs from dawn until dusk. Their lives became harder when I was born. Without time, or money to raise me in the US, they were forced to make the most demanding sacrifice of their lives: sending me 7000 miles away to China where my grandparents could raise me. Even in America, the land of opportunity, they found themselves with no ability to choose their path in life.

I am privileged to speak English as well as some German and Spanish. This opportunity to learn different languages has been encouraged by others and although I am completely fluent in only English, I have been provided with the resources to learn German and Spanish while in High School, at University, and even through online applications. I grew up in an English-speaking household and it was the only language I was introduced to until High School. It was not necessary for me to learn a foreign language to be successful in life or to be considered by American society, an American citizen. However, not everyone living in the U.S. is as fortunate as me. Minorities and immigrants find it crucial to learn English in order to communicate effectively, acquire a job, receive a better education, and to live life successfully here. Hence my surprise at learning that America has been

The language barrier is one of the biggest problems people face when they move to another country. Many immigrants who come from other countries are met with many linguistic challenges that not only impede their control of daily life tasks but also their ability to survive. I believe that it is important for immigrants to speak a national language. If they are unable to speak a national language, they will be unable to function to the fullest and therefore become isolated and disempowered from the community.

Nobody’s born with the language they speak today. Everyone is born with a clean tongue that is transformed to make sounds and words that are native to their homeland and people they were raised by. Language can’t be described as a trait, like the color of your skin or the width of your shoulders. When society discriminates against individuals that speak differently, they are judging them based on how they were raised and how they were taught to speak, people don’t see them as just a person that didn’t have a choice of how they wanted to communicate, and conformed to fit into a puzzle of a whole area of people that sound the same way. I believe that people are molded by experience and adapt to the environment they were placed in. Life is

Most young children develop language rapidly, moving from crying and cooing in infancy to using hundreds of words and understanding their meanings by the time they are ready to enter kindergarten. Language development is a major accomplishment and is one of the most rewarding experiences for anyone to share with a child. Children learn to speak and understand words by being around adults and peers who communicate with them and encourage their efforts to talk.