Personal Narrative: My Learning Of Spanish

Before I turned four years old, my mother and I moved to join my father in Berwyn, Illinois. My sister ended having to stay back a couple of months so that she could finish her school year. We arrived to a nice apartment in the suburbs, it was a complete scenery change than what I was use to. Everyone seemed to have giant yards, bright green grass, large fences, and freshly painted houses. Back in Fresnillo, we had our large home, but it was rare for houses to have such large yards, so close to the heart of the town. From the time of the move until my first year in kindergarten, I had a bit of time to adjust, watching cartoons in English, I am not quite sure how I picked it up but I did. At that time my mother only spoke Spanish, my father is bilingual, but he would speak to us in Spanish.

The sweet smell of tres leches cake baking in the oven, the overwhelming odor of tamales being made in the kitchen, the destruction and cracks of the piñata, the laughter radiating from the adults enjoying their beers. If there was one keystone that holds together my identity and life, it would be my Mexican culture. This culture has an extensive history and tradition that unifies people together. There exist many stereotypes and stigmas recently about Hispanics due to the ongoing War on Drugs. Some people are afraid of us. There is plenty of hateful rhetoric spread around, and I am here to prove those assertions wrong. There is a certain degree of pride in being Hispanic. What many fail to realize is that wherever I go, whoever I encounter,

When I was in eighth grade and my class was choosing our schedules for our first year of high school, I was told that for the diploma I wanted, I would have to take a foreign language. I chose Spanish, because I thought it would be easy. Little did I know that that decision would change my life forever.

In addition, learning Spanish will break the language barrier between myself and all the Spanish-speakers of the world, which I find remarkable. I cannot imagine a more efficient method to achieve bilingualism than complete submersion in Spanish language and culture. For this reason, I have decided to study abroad in Costa Rica for six weeks in the summer of 2016. Over these six weeks, I will take two Spanish courses at the Latin University of Costa Rica, and live with a host family in which I will communicate with only through Spanish. I am certain that I will return from this voyage with more confidence in my Spanish-speaking capabilities, greater knowledge of the language, a heightened passion and appreciation for Costa Rican culture, experiences that will be applicable throughout my life and future career, and memories that I will cherish forever. Moreover, I anticipate that by studying Spanish and studying abroad, I will acquire valuable communication skills in both Spanish and English, become more competitive with my peers, and diversify and enhance the overall knowledge that I will acquire from Oklahoma State

Apart from the exam, the course itself fully immerses you into the Spanish language. It's comprised of six main themes: global challenges, beauty and aesthetics, science and technology, contemporary life, personal and public identities, families and communities. Moreover, I'm accustomed to speaking informally,as a result, I find the courses formal speaking ways to be challenging. Additionally, I find the themes relating to our current scientific advances and our Law system will be the hardest thing for me to grasp.

Today I gave John a warning during Spanish II class. I have called his attention many times for speaking out loud without raising his hand, or without being called upon. After the group project presentations, I began to give instructions on their Midterm Review packet, and John kept interrupting me. I told him to please raise his hand but he ignored my instructions. As they worked on their packet, I played Spanish Christmas music, and John spoke out loud again, saying “is that how you sound when you sing Ms. Molina?” I gave him a demerit as a warning, and advised him if he kept interrupting I would fill out and have him sign it. He remain silent doing his work for the rest of the class, but before leaving the class he tossed the demerit on

To increase my knowledge of Spanish I speak it frequently at home, along with other family members and they help and correct me whenever I use a word improperly or pronounce a word incorrectly. In addition to that, I practice in school with the classes I used to take such as A.P. Spanish Language and Literature. Before that, I was enrolled in the Dual Immersion program which gave me the chance to continue practicing Spanish until high school. With learning Spanish comes the benefit of learning about the different cultures in education and outside of school. School helps increase the knowledge I have about a culture in which they give examples of how Spanish culture fits into learning the language itself. For example, in A.P. Spanish Literature

I just returned from an amazing vacation. I went with my family on a cruise ship for 7 days. Our ship was called Oasis of the Seas and is the second largest passenger ship created; we had 6,400 people on board. It was so big it had a full volleyball/basketball court, a mini golf course, a zipline, an ice skating rink and 21 pools/hot tubs. This isn't even half of the crazy ammenities they offer on board. They also offer shore excusions for the various countries we stopped in. This was very important to me as I had never left the country before then. The Oasis docked in Mexico, Jamacia and Haiti. More specifically we docked on the island of Cozumel in Mexico. In Cozumel we took a snorkling tour to the Palancar and Columbia reefs led by Diving Captain Carlos. It was my first time snorkling and it was amazing. The water was perfectly clear and we could see over 150 feet. We had beautiful views of coral and rock formations and well as tons of marine life. We saw 3 sea turtles, a school of young barracudas and one huge 5 foot long barrcuda that was scarred and battle

Every year, a few days before Christmas break, my Spanish teacher hosts a Christmas party for all of the faculty. The students in his Spanish four class are responsible for preparing Hispanic influenced cuisine. However, the whole fiesta is coordinated by those brave enough to venture into AP Spanish. Although I’m in the level four course, my teacher assigned me as the chief organizer and décor extraordinaire. We only had four weeks to pull everything together so time was of the essence. By infusing a lot of positive energy and publicity about the occasion, we managed to spread the news and excitement among the faculty. Despite a few challenges with communication and organization, we managed to pull it off with great success. The teachers

I personally think that in personal narrative a literacy work has more of an impact. I believe this because it can convey more details than a movie based on the literacy work. Both I believe are good ways to portray the sense of time but in different ways. In a movie you see more of how the directors see things instead of being able to imagine it

It has helped me understand more about the celebrations and the traditions they have in the culture. For example, it has helped me understand why each town in Mexican states hold their own unique festivals and each has its own history. It has opened doors that have led me to actually participate in their festivals and understand why they dress in the manner in which they do and how they process all the way up to church. It is an experience that is unique to me more than to a monolingual speaker because of my understanding. Overall, knowing spanish has deepened my understanding of culture in the way I read about it to get informed, communicate with my grandma to understand the background and being able to listen to many people talk about it, at the same time writing down

Twenty years ago, in the year of 1996, my parents made a life-changing decision that would help develop an asset of being bilingual to my brothers and myself. My parents determined to migrate to the United States in pursuit of the great “American Dream.” I am the middle child of three, my sister Diana is the oldest and my brother Eduardo is the youngest. The first few years after we arrive our folks still did not spoke a word of English; therefor they depended on us to translate for them on a regular basis. I had different experiences while translating at that young age, a lot of them were awkward, others were scary, some were embarrassing, but for most of the time it was fun.

The population of native Spanish speakers in the US is growing according to the article “10 Facts About the Spanish Language;” which states that “With 329 million native speakers, Spanish ranks as the world's No. 2 language in terms of how many people speak it as their first language. It is slightly ahead of English (328 million) but far behind Chinese (1.2 billion)” (Erichsen). I am going to college to get my degree in Elementary Education. I am taking a course to learn to speak Spanish – hablar español, because I have noticed this myself.

In my current community, the Spanish language is everywhere. I took the opportunity my school provided to take a Spanish class in order for me to understand the people that lived near me. Conversing in Spanish never came easily to me. I recall struggling to learn the many verb tenses and the complex vocabulary, but the struggles seemed nothing compared to the satisfaction I got from helping a Hispanic mother during a community service event. She could not speak English well, as I could not speak Spanish well. However, through my choppy sentences and limited vocabulary I was able to ask her what backpacks she wanted for her kids and how many she needed. Another memorable, proud moment, all due to my taking the time to learn a

As a Spanish minor, I am required to study abroad in a Spanish speaking country for at least three weeks, however, I want to spend an entire semester in Guatemala. The reason for this is because I believe that the best way for me to learn the Spanish language is to be immersed in it as much as possible and for as long as possible. I am also beyond excited to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so that I can experience a different culture and gain a new perspective of the world. I have never had the opportunity to travel to another country, so I believe that this would be an excellent opportunity for me to explore God’s glorious creation! By spending an entire semester in Guatemala, I will become more fluent in the language, which will be extremely beneficial for my future career. Upon graduation, I hope to work as either a Spanish teacher in an elementary school or to work in a Spanish immersion school. However, in order to work in a Spanish immersion school, which I would love to do, I need to be fluent in the language, which will take longer than a three week stay in Guatemala.