Born to immigrant parents 🛬, my personal development has been heavily influenced by both the Spanish and English language. The first words that came out of my mouth as an infant were spanish, and once I grew up, english became my second language. Raised in a spanish environment, I would pick up spanish words from my family’s conversations and in the spanish tv and radio station channels👂. Spanish literacy also allowed me to make connections with my grandparents, who didn’t understand english very well, that I never would have had the chance to if I solely spoke english. I owe this to my parents who persisted in teaching me spanish as my English skills skyrocketed in elementary school so I wouldn't lose the gift that is bilingualism.
To further my spanish studies despite already being a native speaker, my parents enrolled me into Spanish school, also known as the A.L.C.E program. I began in Kindergarten and recently graduated from the program after 11 years, but can affirm that it has impacted my academic performance immensely and allowed me to truly feel literate. A.L.C.E taught me the importance of the Spanish culture, language, literature, and history, making me read a wide variety of texts, do grammar workbooks, and write. This, in turn, allowed me to develop the skills I apply in school on a daily basis such as literacy, multitasking, problem-solving, and quick decision making.
Aside from my parents, my older sister served as a key role model in my personal literary development. She was always there supporting me every step of the way, helping me read the assigned books from both language literacy classes during my childhood. As a person that loves reading and writing, I was rarely discouraged. Books fueled my imagination and sharpened my skills. I joined book clubs, wrote in personal journals, and made sure to maintain literature as a part of my daily routine. I specifically enjoyed creative writing, especially as a child, eager to build fictional realities with pen and paper. My father, being a teacher, also brought home a lot of books for me to read, and that is when my love for dystopias and science fiction began. It was only in the event that I received a lot of writing assignments all at once that I became frustrated.
Bilingual literacy can offer you a variety of opportunities, both social and professional. I can personally attest to that statement as a Pharmacy Clerk at Levy’s Pharmacy. Since I am literate in spanish and english, I can help most customers who walk into the pharmacy and have questions. Moreover, I can take down messages for the pharmacist from Spanish customers and translated them to English efficiently. Out of all the encounters I’ve had, I distinctly remember one middle aged woman who came in, could not speak english, and needed to know where a specific item was. My coworkers found themselves incapable as they were monolingual, and I set out to guide the woman through the isles. She was very grateful and ended up telling me about her life here since she immigrated, later explaining how even though her grandchildren have tried to teach her some words she could never fully grasp the english language. The overwhelming sense of happiness is indescribable in these kinds of situations, and her genuine smile and gratitude made all of the years of the spanish language studies worth it.
I find it necessary to digress that I look up to my parents and seek to make them proud with everything I do. I push myself to do better academically and as an individual, because they gave me all that I have today. It is because of them that I am continuously inspired to continue my literary development, whether english or spanish.
-Adri
