How do we make the leap from one language to another? What obstacles must we overcome to finally reach the proficiency of that of a native speaker? How can the languages we learn reform and influence our decisions, the very decisions that will shape who we become? In life, we like to believe it is our decisions that shape who we will become but some choices have been imposed on us like what language becomes our native tongue.
My first language was Spanish, that was the language spoken at home. If I wished to communicate with my grandparents or relatives I had to speak Spanish any other language would just not do. With the language of Spanish came the ideals, morals, and beliefs of my culture (Mexican). I remember a time when I was a child that
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The men are the breadwinners, they provide for their families and in return they come home to a clean house and warm meal. This is just one of the many beliefs that came with my native tongue. Another, belief strongly imbedded with Spanish is my religion. I am a Catholic, at one point I could have said I was a devoted Catholic. I spent my childhood attending mass and other religious events, soaking up all the information giving as if I was a sponge immersed in water. I soaked up all the knowledge I could to a point where I, a six-year-old boy at the time, could lead an entire rosary. A skill that slowly vanished when English touched my …show more content…
I wished to understand and perfect my accent and grammar. I would stay late after class asking for help, asking for more work, asking for recommendations. To a point where I felt comfortable expressing myself in English even more so than Spanish. At school, I would pretend to not speak Spanish mostly because a few of my classmates spoke the language. I started to believe that speaking Spanish was a way for people to identify me and seclude me from the norm. Thus, I tried to forget my Spanish to a point I would go home and only speak English not being able to communicate with my family.
That quickly changed when I realized I was at an advantage compared to my classmates. Not only was I able to read and write in one language but two. Once this realization came to mind I embraced both my languages learning to improve both not just one. If two was better than one then wouldn't three be better than two? That was the mentally that lead me to learn a third language