Growing up in Queens, I have been fortunate enough to have been exposed to many different languages. Junior high was when I first started to really appreciate the variety and beauty of language. I had friends who represented all the corners of the globe and each one proudly carried and shared their heritage with me, through language. By the end of eighth grade I had already learned phrases in over ten languages, not to mention the numbers one to a hundred in Cantonese. (My friends got a real kick out of this when they heard me counting.) Language for me became my identity and I began to use language to define my culture and as a medium to learn about other cultures.
As a child I was raised bilingual. The first realization of this was when I was in kindergarten. I remember using an anglicized pronunciation of the Spanish word frisa for blanket as an English word. Now I can make the distinction between English and Spanish and even Spanglish. Interestingly enough, although I am bilingual, I speak only English at home. My mother came to New York when she was 4 years old and is fluent in both Spanish and English. At times she’ll speak to my sisters and me in both languages but we answer in one; English. I became fluent in Spanish through a combination of personal interest, school, my grandparents and exposure to a large and varied Hispanic community.
My personal interest in Spanish and all languages have helped mold me into the person I am today. Through my contact with different languages I can now say I enjoy watching foreign films, listening to Italian music and a multitude of other hobbies that involve language. Joining my interest in language with my interest in history I have read a lot about Spanish and how it has evolved throughout history. Through my research I have come to understand that language and history go hand in hand. Every time I would research a language I inevitably would come across pages and pages on the history and culture of the speakers of that language.
After taking Spanish in school I decided to take other Romance languages. I love seeing the connections they all share and I took classes in both French and Italian in high school. I already know Spanish and contrary to what people thought about taking two languages at once, I feel that they actually improved my Spanish and my knowledge of Spanish helped me to excel in my language classes.
My love and passion for language has grown so great that I "google" languages on my spare time but my search doesn't end there. From that initial curiosity I learn volumes about different cultures, their histories, traditions and the evolution of their language through time. Language for me is everything. To put it simply I am fascinated by language and I look forward to studying more languages in the future.
As a child I was raised bilingual. The first realization of this was when I was in kindergarten. I remember using an anglicized pronunciation of the Spanish word frisa for blanket as an English word. Now I can make the distinction between English and Spanish and even Spanglish. Interestingly enough, although I am bilingual, I speak only English at home. My mother came to New York when she was 4 years old and is fluent in both Spanish and English. At times she’ll speak to my sisters and me in both languages but we answer in one; English. I became fluent in Spanish through a combination of personal interest, school, my grandparents and exposure to a large and varied Hispanic community.
My personal interest in Spanish and all languages have helped mold me into the person I am today. Through my contact with different languages I can now say I enjoy watching foreign films, listening to Italian music and a multitude of other hobbies that involve language. Joining my interest in language with my interest in history I have read a lot about Spanish and how it has evolved throughout history. Through my research I have come to understand that language and history go hand in hand. Every time I would research a language I inevitably would come across pages and pages on the history and culture of the speakers of that language.
After taking Spanish in school I decided to take other Romance languages. I love seeing the connections they all share and I took classes in both French and Italian in high school. I already know Spanish and contrary to what people thought about taking two languages at once, I feel that they actually improved my Spanish and my knowledge of Spanish helped me to excel in my language classes.
My love and passion for language has grown so great that I "google" languages on my spare time but my search doesn't end there. From that initial curiosity I learn volumes about different cultures, their histories, traditions and the evolution of their language through time. Language for me is everything. To put it simply I am fascinated by language and I look forward to studying more languages in the future.
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