Personal Narrative: What It Means To Be A Bilingual Person

Speaking Spanish or any second language opens a lot of doors in life. While the little Spanish I do know is incomprehensible to most fluent Spanish-speakers, it has helped me in some situations. The article Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Maria Barrientos is the story on how she (Tanya) dealt with the tribulations of being born in Guatemala, moved to and raised in the United States, and attempting to learn her native Language once again (Barrientos 645). While many of us, including Tanya, have difficulties learning a new language and understanding others cultures, the struggle will prove to be worth it in the end.

I now speak English and Spanish because I managed to keep my first language. I had bilingual classes up to fifth grade. Because my parents did not speak a word of English, I had to translate for them regularly, which was also a way to practice my English

The Dual Language program is significant to me because it helped with my journey to self-identification as Mexican-American and Latina.

Learning Spanish is something that has being gaining increasing importance in the world. With an ever larger population of people using Spanish as their first language, being able to speak and communicate in Spanish is gaining more importance. People need to learn it for many reasons such as: for business, to expand your horizons both nationally and internationally, to better appreciate Hispanic culture, and simply just to learn the language. Learning Spanish, or any foreign language, also has benefits that people have just recently discovered. Scientists have found out that learning a foreign language, particularly before the age of 5, has

While English is the most spoken language in the United States, it is not the only means of communicating in this country. Spanish is spoken by a large amount of the population; as a result, knowing how to speak both is the key to success in America. For those who came to this country and already knew this language, it is an important part of who they are. As a direct result of learning it, individuals who embrace it as a second (or even third) language grow closer to their roots, or broaden their horizons. Speaking Spanish is more than gaining a new skill; it is a great step in becoming a better person and a citizen of the world.

Bilingualism is simply able to communicate in two languages. Therefore, bilingualism to me, means being able to communicate with different people and discovering their cultures. Most importantly, being bilingual gives me a different perspective on the world. I am able to relate and feel more connected because it makes me become more open-minded. My parents are from Cambodia. So, Khmer is my mother tongue, and English is my second language. Being able to speak two languages is definitely an important part of my identity. For instance, my native language relates back to my deep connection to my roots and speaking another language shows my willingness to embrace other culture. I can proudly say that I am Cambodian-American. Not to mention, bilingualism

At the beginning of the fall semester, I was beyond excited when I found out that this Spanish class was about improving one’s speaking. I was also very nervous because I knew that my Spanish speaking skills were not nearly as good as some of my other classmates’ speaking skills. Nevertheless, I decided to try my very best every single time I was required to give a speech, and I tried very hard to not think about how well other people were speaking, and just focus on improving my speaking skills. With that being said, I have become quite a bit better at speaking in Spanish, and I have even been able to significantly improve my pronunciation.

Today, it was a challenge working with an individual who spoke very minimal English. I found this challenge to be very helpful because this is a common problem in the area that I am from. Many individuals in my home town area only speak Spanish, so it was interesting in seeing how a language barrier can affect the direct health care for a patient. I felt that the language barrier was a problem for the care for this patient because I felt that we were not able to address and assess his pain as accurately as we could have. We understood that he was in pain but he was not able to describe the pain to or tell us what relived his pain or made his pain worse. The things that went well today was I was able to use many skills that I have not been

In my Spanish class I learned the top ten reasons to learn Spanish. One of the reason to learn Spanish is to be able to communicate in other countries. Like if you went to another country for vacation. And the people only talked in Spanish, you would feel more comfortable if you knew what there were saying. In social media you can also talk to somebody who only speaks in fluid Spanish. You could speak to that person and possibly make a new friend. Studying Spanish can make understanding English better. For example, taco, burritos, nacho and no are all Spanish words and also English words. The 4th reason is so that you have better job opportunities. You can speak to more people and understand them and then that means you would have more customers.

I’m interested in your experience in working with interpreters and the challenges one encounters especially within an open form venue like Back-to-School-Night. Again I’m assuming that your school has Spanish speaking teachers or aids in which you plan on using for an interpreter or where you planning on asking someone who is proficient in both languages to interpret for you? When alternating back and forth between you speaking English and your Spanish interpreter, how do you know how much spoken material to chunk together before you pass the conversation over to the interpreter? Also again I assuming you do not speak Spanish yourself, so how do you know when the intemperate has completed interpreting or just search for word to translate

For a background story, I am bilingual and I my parents sent me to Mexico to learn more Spanish. I came back, to complete my fourth grade, here back in the USA. Then, during that year, I made new friends from both Spanish and non-Spanish speaking kids, I had one friend in particular. We would play together during recess. One night during a parent teacher conference, we both saw each other and hugged, all while her mother was behind her. When I wanted my friend to meet my parents, all of a sudden, her mom grabs her by her arm and looked at me. Her mother then asked me, "are you a Mexican?" And I answered "I guess, but I speak Spanish too!" Suddenly she looks at my friend and says "why are you friends with her? We got to go now." When all of

In high school, you are required to have two credit hours of a foreign language. Coming from a small school, my options were limited to Spanish, French, and German. I ended up taking Spanish which was an experience all in itself. Also in high school, you are required to have four credit hours in a Language Arts/English. In the end taking these classes affected how I perceive things in the world and also how I react to things. But when I was a Freshman, I also took a trip to Haiti where I learned phrases in their language that I still use and remember today.

Aside from the many benefits that exist with regards to just learning a language, the benefits of being bilingual are many. I use the term "bilingual" loosely. Someone who can reasonably communicate in two languages, in my opinion, is bilingual. Even 10 minutes per day, consistently, over a long period of time, can have a great impact

Spanish was my first language acquisition when I was born. Making the reminder that language acquisition refers to the language acquired when a child speaks it as the first language. “When a child speaks a language as a first language in the home, we refer to language acquisition.” (Myers-Scotton, 2006) My family was the first influence in the process of the acquisition of my first language. Starting as a passive speaker by listening to them, and then becoming an active speaker by interaction. As I grew up, the use of this language increased. After speaking Spanish with my family as a child I applied the little knowledge at school. Between the ages of six to twelve years old, I learned the structure and rules

Since my infancy I have been exposed to foreign languages. I attended a Spanish bilingual preschool, and there was a point in my life when I spoke better Spanish than English. For me, Spanish unlocked another world, as I was able to read the Spanish advertisements in the subway and eavesdrop on conversations in my neighborhood.