Growing Up Of A Latino Household Essay

Throughout this first chapter of Latino Americans the key points in my opinion were the following. Starting with the origin story of the Americas, the book mentions there might not be a definitive starting point because there “500 nations in North America before a European ship ever dropped anchor off the Eastern Seaboard” (Suarez 3). The book from this point on chronologically starts narrating, first about 55 years before Protestant refugees from Mayflower ever stepped on American soil, a Spanish sailor Pedro Menendez de Aviles forced French protestants from their Florida coast settlement to then stablish St. Augustine. From this point the book continues to tell the stories of Juan de Oñate, from witnessing the founding of Santa Fe, the oldest capital of North America, to exploring more than half a dozen of American states, he is one of the most fundamental conquistadors who is the least

As a first-generation Latina in college, I could not be where I am without the help of multiple individuals. My parent’s sacrificed so much coming into this country. They left behind their family, their home, in order to one day provide a better future for me. Initially, my parents planned on staying in America for five years then they would go back to Ecuador. However plans changed once my mom became pregnant with me. The decision to stay in order to give me the best future possible greatly affected both my parents. They suffer greatly and lament leaving their family everyday. Only my mom has the slight possibly of returning to her home country but unfortunately, the only thing waiting her is her mother’s grave.

Clara E. Rodriguez wrote an essay titled, "What It Means To Be Latino". In this essay she explains the difference between the terms Hispanic and Latino. She elaborated on how the term "Hispanic" was created by the U.S. Census Bureau in 1970, to use it as a general term to describe all of the people who came from, or, had parents who came from a Spanish speaking country. Then she states that the term "Latino", is a term considered to be more neutral and racially inclusive by many people in this population, although she made a good point of view, it still failed to describe the more complexity on the meaning of the term Latino.

On the playground, I fluent English speaker while the other Hispanic children often supplanted their English with Spanish vocabulary I failed to understand. Consequently, this led to a de facto rift between those I could and could not be friends with because I did not know Spanish. Despite the fact I shared the commonalities of skin tone and having grandparents who lived in the “Lanes”, I was not “one of them”. My privileged upbringing, thanks to my parents, allowed me to succeed in school and experience little difficulty writing essays or reading a book for class. This was made obvious as my teachers often selected my school work to show other students and called on me to answer questions during class. As I aged my Spanish did improve, somewhat, but not as much as my friends’ English. Therefore, I was regulated to the Spanglish found in border towns that “fake” Mexican’s used and common phrases I felt comfortable with, since I did not speak fluent

Being a young hispanic Latina I have always defined myself as Guatemalan but born in America. My mother has always taught me to appreciate my roots and where I originate from, so at home my mom made a rule in which I could only speak spanish. But most of all how important it was for me to speak a different language rather then just english, although that meant being the only form of helping my mother communicate with the outside world. Growing up, I realized that my mother relied on me to understand what doctors, teachers, and even some reading said because of how unlikely it was for a spanish translator. Throughout the years I have experienced racial discrimination, symbolic violence, and even how social cultural environment has a major affect

Everyone has faced difficulties after immigrating to a country. Whether it`s finding a job, it`s language barriers or facing prejudice, usually everyone faces has faced one difficulty. My parents have faced the difficulty of languages. My parents come from a country where the second language is english. They weren't familiar with a country where everywhere you go it's always english. But luckily, my parents did study in a school where it’s “English Medium”. That means they went to a school where they learned Hindi, Gujarati and English.

I was raised in a Hispanic middle class home. My first language was Spanish and when I started elementary school I learned English. Just beginning elementary school, I was already struggling with the language I was in ESL classes at school and then speech therapy on the side. I was struggling with learning a new language and adjusting to school.

“Fob,” “Speak English!” and “Do you understand?” were questions and statements I received constantly as a child. I was born a legal citizen in America, but the discrimination I got for being Vietnamese lingered upon me for the first six years of my life. I grew up in a predominant Asian household due to my grandma’s inability to speak English; therefore, English was rarely spoken. The fear of being made fun of or laughed at prevented me from leaving my house. Beginning grade school, my teachers would have to slow down their lessons in order to keep me caught up. As I started school and was forced to learn English, I gained self confidence and a sense of belonging with the community. Being able to speak two different languages and celebrate both cultures allowed me to step out into the world and be myself. However, Richard Rodriguez grew up completely different from me. Although we both have two immigrant parents, his bilingualism separated him from the outside world and caused a division between his public and private languages. Whereas Martin Espada, who grew up in America, considers bilingualism as an identification of who people are and fights for bilingual education with his heart.

It was not easy for me. Kids would always make fun of me and they would not care how I felt. I struggled day in and day out trying to learn English. My mom would always stay up late at night helping me with homework and trying to the best of her abilities to help me. She did not know a lot of English, as well and for her to help

When I lived in New York, the norm was coming home and hearing my stepmom speak to her friends and relatives in Spanish on the phone, while shows like Caso Cerrado filled in the background noise. After we moved to New Hampshire, that was all a world away. Although this change was difficult for me, I know it was a lot more difficult for my stepmom, Karen. She got a job at the outlet mall after we got settled in the White Mountains. As a Colombian immigrant, her accent and physical traits set her apart from her coworkers and most of her customers. Day after day I would hear her stories of mistreatment and discrimination from the people around her. I know I can never understand the hardships her nationality has caused her here, but I made

Growing up with a hispanic family, always talking spanish, was very difficult. When I started kindergarten I didn’t understand the teacher because she spoke a language that I was unfamiliar with. When they switched me to a bilingual class I understood the teacher better. The teacher always explain it in spanish if one of us didn’t understand it english. She offered book clubs after school for children and parents, in which we would get into groups and both parents and children would read. This club helped me read and understand english better, also helped my mom learn a some english.

I found out very soon that if you didn’t speak English or didn’t speak it well, other kids didn’t want to play with you. And this didn’t only apply to kids in school but also to kids within my religion who immigrated from the same country but had been here longer, therefore, were better versed. My mother remembers multiple times where I would come to her crying that no one wanted to be my friend because I

At school, I had to manage a language barrier that imprinted itself on my education and social life. With the absence of communication between my peers, teachers, and I, adapting into the American culture became more difficult.

At a very early age, all I could understand and speak was Arabic, the language of my people and country. My parents are very cultural and were very hard to us because they did not want us to forget where we came from. Not until I was six years old is when I met the English language in my first year of preschool. At the time, I was so frustrated and angry at my parents for not teaching me English along with Arabic when I was younger. Throughout my first two years of school, my classmates would be speaking and

It was hard to communicate with my family. Although I spoke Spanish the way they