Both of my parents came from different countries other than the United States. My father came from Bogota, Colombia at the age of 22. He had taken some English classes at his high school before coming to New York, but for the most part he didn’t have very much practice speaking English.
After speaking to my father about his thoughts on his language choices and view on the importance of language, I was able to get a better understanding on what it must have been like for him. My father knew that he needed to learn English right away in order to build his life in the United States. He first lived in New York and there were a lot of Spanish speakers there but he would eventually need to learn English.
He chose to enroll himself in some college classes to build on the English he learned in Colombia. This was a very difficult process for him because of the pronunciations and the many variations of the language.
He has shown an interest in learning languages from other countries and encouraged my brother and me to do the same. He feels that it will give us an advantage in the business world, and we agree. He was too busy to actually learn the other languages and focused on mastering his English to the best of his ability. He feels language is very important because it is a required component communication. And being able to speak clearly and confidently is necessary in our country.
My father’s English became better and better the more he studied, worked, and interacted with everyone in our country. He still has an accent and has difficulty pronouncing some words and completing some emails at his job. He is now a senior telecommunications technician in San Luis Obispo, California.
My mother was born in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico and came to New York, New York around the age of 16. She came with all of her sisters and brother, unlike my father who came with his sister. My mother also studied English in high school in her country but she came at an earlier age and was able to learn additional English in our high schools here. My mother enjoys reading and writing; she has always been good at writing and helps my father with some of his emails for work. She helped my brother and me with our homework when we were children.
My mother made a commitment early in life to learn the English language because she knew it would lead to good things for her and her family. She values language, along with speaking and writing in an educated manner. My mother has shown interest in learning French and was able to take a trip to France with her sister.
Once she began living in New York, she was exposed to so much so fast that her English progressed quickly and did very well in school and college. She was able to use her bilingual skills in the banking industry for a few years. Once she started a family she left that career and stayed home to raise her family.
The blog was very thoughtful interesting to read because of the fact my parents and I have had a similar experience with the English language and coming to the United States. I know how hard it can be to start a life in a country where you speak very little of the native tongue or none at all.
ReplyDeleteLike the your mother and father my parents had learned only the English they were taught in high school, but that really wasn’t enough to have them get by at work. They needed to learn more of the language in order to find a job and support their family.
In the blog it is also mentioned that learning other languages is important, which I also think highly of. Once I learned English, I made it a challenge for myself to pick up other languages to help other people who didn’t speak English here in the United States. In seventh grade I picked up French and in eleventh grade I was able to pick up German. After this I was an exchanged student in Germany for my senior year and I had the opportunity to travel to France and put what I had learned for many years to work.
Even though I don’t know you personally I know that you must feel proud of your parents at how far they have come from speaking very little English. I hope that you will pick up on other languages, (if you haven't already), as this will open your mind to new perspectives and more of the world that we call our own.
I think that's pretty cool that you get the perspective from two parents who came to this country and had to learn English. It must have been very difficult for them, I took two years of Spanish and I can't remember any of it. I think he is very wise to tell you to be multi-lingual, in the economy we are going into out of college you will have that leg up on your competition. I always told myself I would learn another language after college, but thats a big time investment. Hopefully I can stick with it. It's good that your parents saw the value of learning English when they came over her, It sounds like it definitly helped them in terms of their children and careers. It's funny how just interacting with people who speak English can help you learn the language. Just being around people not even necessarily trying to understand what they are saying, and then eventually understanding what they are saying. That must have been pretty cool, picking up on a couple words here and there along with reading and working. Sounds like a lot of hard work that completely paid off.
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