My Multilingual Reality

By expanding ourselves past the comfort of the native tongue, we are able to create connections with other people. When learning another language, we may start to understand not only the language itself, but also comprehend new cultures, ways of thinking, and other people. From the very beginning of deciding to become a teacher, I knew I wanted to expand my ways of thinking so I positively benefit students of all cultures and language. I believe language learning allows people to view the world in different ways by becoming positively influenced by other cultures, people, and different ways of thinking. However, after deciding to become an ESL teacher, I truly believe that bilingual education is needed to help students develop and maintain high levels of proficiency and literacy in both their L1 and L2, while learning in the content areas. This is why I personally believe it is better for children to be raised bilingual instead of learning a second language later in life. One reason for this is that even though I was born in America, my parents wanted me to learn their language, which was Polish. Now, I am fully appreciative of the fact that my parents taught me Polish and placed me in a Saturday school where I was being taught both English and Polish. If I was taught Polish later in life, I think I would not use it to this day because I would not have made personal connections with the languages, as I was able to by being raised bilingual. There are many benefits of being raised bilingual instead of learning a second language later in life. It is important to understand that it takes on average 4-7 years to become academically fluent in a language; by raising a child bilingually, the children are able to use both languages more efficiently earlier than those students who learn a second language later in life. Since the child has been bilingual for a longer time, there are educational benefits commonly found. Bilingual children tend to have a higher concentration and are better at working through distractions while doing their schoolwork. Bilingual children also perform higher on average on tests that involve multi-tasking, creative thinking, or problem solving (Marian & Shook, 2012).

In America, there is a predominant growth in multiple ethnicities and cultural backgrounds; leading to the usage of multiple languages in the American culture. There is a growing need for many people to learn and utilize multiple languages within the workplace and within one 's own personal life. The importance of bilingualism and the knowledge of multiple languages is ever increasing, and therefore becoming more important for the younger generations. The push for knowing multiple languages and becoming bilingual has many potential negative and positive effects.

In today's world, there are translators by the dozen available in every known app store. People use them to pass foreign language classes before they even consider using their dusty, brittle textbook. It is virtually unheard of to be a monolingual English speaker in 2017. However, the question is still brought up pertaining to the advantages of being a monolinguist, are monolingual English speakers at a disadvantage? Scholars have brought up the assertion that it will help them understand the English language more adequately (Source D), even to examine if it will help you think better. Moreover, they object, being able to know and understand multiple languages may be your passion and help you entangle yourself with the world. Whereas in

Everyone in America has had to learn a second language in order to obtain a high school diploma, however this ‘learning’ of a language is merely a short class that does little to tie one down to a second language. There are few students who continue to seek more and more knowledge about their intended language. Some lose interest, while others make excuses by saying that it is too hard. However, learning more than one language has so many benefits that it is mind boggling to me that more people like to remain monolingual. Obviously time and resources are a concern, but there are so many ways to learn a language that can be catered to one’s individual needs. Think about all of the people in our nation whose first language is not English.

At first, speaking English was a bit difficult because I did not feel confident using it with others. The most advanced students sometimes made fun of my English. The students who spoke my own language made more fun of me than the ones who were fluent in English. The teasing by the students made me feel embarrassed and shy to speak the English language, giving me a fear of being made fun of or looked at differently. Practicing the English language with my own siblings and playing with the neighborhood kids who already managed the language gave me more confidence to speak English. Taking Spanish courses in school was also an advantage, which helped me to get better at my native language and kept me from losing it.

When I moved from Colombia to the United States on December of 2013, I started studying the language and using it for necessities. Despite of my efforts, I could not got rate of my accent and it made my pass a temporally hard time. People made fun of me and my bad speaking skills. Even though that I was from Colombia, for them I was Mexican. At the beginning it hurt my feelings because I knew that my speaking was not perfect but also it made me stronger, and made me want to improve it every day.

I am very fluent in Spanish now and I my young children are as well. So even speaking another language is helping us grow. Diversity in society helps us grow as individuals and opens our minds to different ways of life.

Having the ability to speak more than one language influences one’ life deeply. Speaking two or more languages can affect someone from being infants to old age. Bhattacharjee continues with, “The bilingual experience appears to influence the brain from infancy to old age (and there

If people maintain their native language, then they can represent their culture and linguistic needs in government. This way of thinking about multilingualism breeds acceptance and appreciation of other cultures and languages. Finally, I agree with and enjoyed Benjamin Rush’s commentary on multilingualism. He, “expressed his concern that, “narrow-minded people,” fearful of retention of the German language among Pennsylvania’s citizens, would not recognize the benefits a German college might provide the nation. The spread of learning among citizens, no matter what their native tongues, was crucial to the cause of the government” (23) by promoting democracy through freedom of speech and freedom of language. Additionally, multilingualism works to make stronger foreign relations, advances in science, math and all other research and allows America to communicate its success to other countries, The presence of multiple languages makes America the accepting, culturally diverse mixing pot that it is

Despite the difficulties of learning in a second language, being bilingual has provided me with a unique perspective. I am able to communicate with people who have vastly different perspectives than my own. Being a part of two cultures helps me understand

“One of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time”, Federico Fellini once stated that “A different language is a different vision of life” and I, in my turn tend to say that he was perfectly right. A person who speaks more than one language can experience multiple personalities, visions and reflections consisting which language is he speaking. High School students should comprehend the real benefit of speaking a foreign language. Being a multilingual myself and speaking fluently four languages and studying another two, I consider that I am qualified enough to persuade that my argument is strong, plausible and not ultimately-right. In the following paragraphs I am going to address the following three reasons why should other High School students learn at least one foreign language? Firstly, learning a new language enhances performances in the academic domain and makes you smarter. Secondly, knowing a new language is a high estimated and a very valuable characteristic in your professional CV. Thirdly, international travel is more pleasant through knowing a foreign language.

At an early age, I have always thought not having English as my first language was a disadvantage. I always wish I was born in America where I can have English as my first language so I would easily fit in at school and not have people making fun of mine accent. But now looking back I’m glad that I was be able to still know how to read and write Vietnamese. Being a bilingual is an advantage rather than disadvantage. By knowing two different languages I can be able to help translate to people in the community.

A few years ago, when I just came to the united stated, I had a hard time understanding and talking in English. I used to feel bad when people made fun of my accent. As the time flew, I learned English and I can talk and understand perfectly. Now I speak four languages and I felt lucky and proud, and I have greatest advantages of helping my family and relatives. There is no doubt in my mind that being a bilingual is the greatest advantages that I am having in my life such as getting a better job and helping other people.

Once you learn a second language well enough, it is said that learning a third or fourth is easier (2). Two languages are better than one. Also, luckily for second language learners, two significant by-products of bilingualism are better cognitive skills and longer attention spans (4). Having those two elements would greatly help with testing, especially standardized exams. Knowing more than one language also increases your job opportunities. Employers are constantly showing interest in bilingual workers. Its beneficial because not everyone who lives in the United States speaks English. It appeals to employers because it makes you seem smarter. Also, as stated above many high schoolers don’t retain the language. Since the 1960s, studies have shown that the best time to begin the study of a foreign language is in elementary school (3). Because children at this age show a better mental flexibility, more creativity, divergent thinking skills, and improved listening and memory skills, kids are able to process language early

My interest in learning English is due to the fact that I have always liked to challenge myself. Even though many of my friends and family warned me from majoring in English, as it would be difficult for me, I have accepted the challenge. I have always felt that learning English would increase myself confidence and have people around me impressed. This interest has also grown through my passion in learning about languages, cultures, and traditions. Where I come from, Saudi Arabia, a big number of people came from different countries and spoke different languages. I have realized that English could be a means to interact with a lot of people speaking different languages. I have also realized that English is the lingua franca of today’s world with no close rivals. Learning English actually