A Narrative Essay About Being American

Growing up learning two languages may sometimes be difficult but it will benefit the person learning in many ways. Not only will learning two languages help in getting higher paying jobs, but it will give a better view of both cultures and their history. I agree with Alarid’s statement that Mexican Americans in the United States should learn both English and Spanish. Alarid shares his view on why it is important to learn English and Spanish. Being bilingual is only a way we can prosper in our society by being able to have a better understanding in communicating with our peers.

First of all, going to family parties or having family come over was terrible. In my house, very little English was used if at all. The only English used was between my siblings and me. I knew some Spanish, but couldn 't understand a full conversion or respond to one. Going to family parties was hell because they didn’t understand why I didn’t speak both languages like my sister and brother.

Learning to read and write was a great experience for me especially since I learned to read and write in Spanish before learning to read and write in English. I was taught to read and write in Spanish from kindergarten to the third grade, and then I was introduced to English in the fourth grade. In the fourth grade I was placed in a bilingual class that introduced me to reading and writing in English. It was not too difficult learning the basics since I already knew how to speak English. This did not change the fact that I had a few struggles along the way.

No more local television, no more songs in Spanish , nothing, everything was in English. I decided that I was not gonna make a fool again, and I worked as hard as I could, day and night, every time that I could I would try to perfectionate my English and in a year I had almost perfected it. It was not an easy road, for I was excluded from a lot of things, for my prefer to learn English. My family would give me weirds look and called me “ la gringa”, this term ,if you did not know, was to offend me, only for wanting to learn English.

Being Mexican people assume that I’m from Mexico, but little do they know that Mexican people can give birth in different places, I happened to be born in the state of Hawaii. In the Latino/Mexican culture you have different ways of doing things. For instance, celebrating a holiday or a birthday we say “Go Big Or Go Home”, we also celebrate Christmas on the 24th and we have a wonderful celebration for the becoming-of-age of a girl called a Quinceanera. One thing that can be hard about being a pure 100% Mexican is that we’re a single culture but we have so many various regions within Mexico that have different traditions and cultural diversity that everybody thinks we’re all basically the same. Even though I’m full Mexican I’m nowhere near

Even if I was born and raised in America, my Mexican traditions have always been present. For example, our family gathering are always huge and last the whole day. With every gathering or occasion Mexican food can always be found. One of my favorite part of having a family gathering is coming together and cooking a huge feast with my sisters, while my children play with their cousins. With all the Mexican traditions in my life it impacts the way I live and how I raise my children.

Growing up knowing two different languages can be difficult for many Latinos, or anyone of a different descent. According to Espaillat, her father did not wish for her to speak English within their home, she stated, “My father liked them separate, on there, / one here (allá y aquí)” (1-2). Her father seemed to be strict with her when deciding what language she can or cannot speak. She continues to state, “as if aware that works might cut in two his daughter’s heart / (el corazaon)” (2-3). Espaillat believes that her father is afraid that cooperating both languages together will end up separating her heart in two pieces.

It was in this unique way that my mom figured out how to teach herself the english language, as well as raising me as a bilingual child. Every page that she’d flip would expand both of our vocabularies in ways that changed both of our lives entirely. Our tongues tripped over the new sounds, tentative around the differences between the ‘sh’ and ‘ch’ sounds, a slow but successful hands on learning experience. By the time I went to Preschool, and eventually Kindergarten, I knew enough of both languages to speak, read, and even write a bit in both english and spanish.

“America is not just a country, it’s an idea” -Bono. America, where millions from around the world have come to create their ideal community. America was formed, and is constantly being altered by the people who run it. Many countries look at America as a standard, a standard to which they compare themselves, but why?

While I was growing up my parents wanted us to speak Spanish at the house or when we were around them; this taught me to be bilingual. Being bilingual is an amazing opportunity because you can connect with more than one culture. For my family it was allowing us to keep the culture we have from Mexico alive. Culture is dear to our hearts and we want to remember where we come from and never forget. Speaking another language is fun at some points because we go to the grocery store and the cashier would start having conversations with us in Spanish.

However, if you’re not a bilingual family, then you need to bear in mind that the more you expose your child to different types of communities, where different languages are spoken, the better are the chances that your baby will acquire both languages equally. Kids also need to understand that they need to learn the language from different people with different languages addressing them. In this way, children will naturally find their way to understand and acquire different

As I grew older I learned to appreciate my family’s roots. I practiced my pronunciation and finally spoke only Spanish around the house and at the dinner table. I taught myself new words through music and how to read & write by watching telenovelas, turning on the subtitles, and reading them. Ironically learning about my heritage became my

From a young age, I encountered what is known as discrimination from my own people I could say. Being Mexican- American was hard for me as I traveled continuously from American to Mexico. I would take a school in America for a couple of months and then months later take a school in Mexico. I was learning tow languages at the same time but not constantly.

When I came to the United States I did not know a word of English, to be able to learn I submerge myself in the language and the culture. I was able to learn the language within six months, but what I did not noticed was that in part, I lost the ability to speak perfect Spanish. I was so concentrate on fitting in and learning the language, that I lost part of my Hispanic culture. I noticed that I had difficulty reading and writing on the language I had learned many years ago. To regain part of my culture, I began to read my mother’s favorite book in Spanish.

Many people in our group could listen and make sense of the language, some people could read Spanish, but few people could speak Spanish. Being one of