My parents are both immigrants from Haiti. I was born in America. Growing up, my parents spoke Creole, the national language of Haiti, and English at home. As I got older my resistence to speak their native tongue began to grow. I don’t know why I began to reject the language as my own. Maybe it was because kids with immigrant parents, especially Haitian kids, used to get a lot of flak from the other kids at school. Maybe it was because i couldn’t fully relate to the kids who came from Haiti and spoke to me in the language about things in the country I knew nothing about. Maybe it was because of the inevitable switch, back and forth from Creole to English, due to my lack of the proper vocabulary to speak fluently. Maybe, it was even because …show more content…
I could feel that I was not whole. I pondered on what it could be and then realized that I had never fully accepted myself. I never fully understood that I could be more than one thing. That my identity could be as complex as a 17x17 rubik’s cube. That I didn't necessarily have to fit into one box. In order to find myself, I read a book. A book by a Haitian American struggling to find the middle ground of being raised in Haitian customs but surrounded by American influence. Consumed by the thought of reading stories with others who struggle to find their identity like I did, I read every book I could find. In that time I began to learn more about my hidden culture and more about myself. I learned about many customs and characteristics that come from being an American born citizen from Haitian immigrant parents, and the differences and slight similarities that shaped who I am. As I began to learn to love my intersectionality of these two cultures. I began to love myself. I now speak more Creole than ever before. I may not have the best accent, and I do tend to revert by to English but i constantly try to improve and better myself. It took me so long to try and find where I fit and belong. I now know that my identity is something unique and individual and any person growing up, with or without immigrant parents, struggle to find
Haiti is the pearl of the Caribbean. Haiti is a country located on the island of Hispaniola, next to the Dominican Republic. African slaves were taking to Haiti by the French, since the French could not communicate with the slaves in their native language, the French masters forced the slaves to learn how speak French. After a war, where the African slaves revolted. The French lost and left Haiti and the slaves still spoke French.
Have you ever seen a 7 year old busboy at a restaurant? At that age I became one at my family's Caribbean restaurant. Yes being a 7 year old busboy is a bit crazy, but it is very much realistic. Working at that age up until now has given me many experiences both socially and economically. I found it easy walking up to a total stranger and starting a conversation.
My first language is English but I also understand haitian Creole. I would say I am intermediate in Haitian Creole. I also think some words in Spanish are familiar to me because in Creole there are some Spanish words ( as well as some French). I want to be able to hold a basic conversation in Spanish or at least understand it. Eventually, i would love to be fluent or at least intermediate in the language to be able to communicate well with my future Spanish-speaking ELL students when I become a teacher.
I moved to Texas, which also has its own language, when I was 15 years old. I felt as if I was learning a new language. I went into a fast food place right after I had
Language is used to convey a message as well as connect people to a particular culture or ethnicity he or she identifies with. People who share the same language share a bond and pass their history through language. In chapter one of The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom Joanne Kilgour Dowdy speak about growing up in Trinidad and her mother insisting on her speaking in the colonizer's language rather than her native Trinidadian language. Joanne Kilgour Dowdy felt as if her identity was being pushed to the side when she was forced to speak “Colonized English” when she was at school or around the social elite of her community, and felt ridiculed from her peers for speaking proper as if she was white or of the elite social class. Dowdy major concern was how to have the freedom to go back and forth from home, language to the public language without feeling judged from both sides of her
It didn 't take long to see how my status as an illegal Latin immigrant would limit my goals. My mother once revealed to me that where one begins their journey is never a hindrance. If anything, it makes them anomalous, animated. And, standing out is good. She would inform me of Latino
My parents were rubber tree farmers. The government owns the trees so we didn’t make much money. Every day after school, I had to go and help my parents at the farm. I didn’t have time to study for another language at home; beside, my schools didn’t allow me to take an English class. The simple reason was that I’m not a teacher’s kid.
Sophie and Martine both speak Creole and English. This was how Martine made sure Sophie never forgot her native language and how she was able to communicate so well with her aunt and grandma during her visit to Haiti. Bong was also able to enjoy his trip to Korea because he was able to speak the language. My mother was really proud of me when I finally graduated ESOL. However, even after I graduated my mother never stopped talking to me in Spanish.
Loving Your Ground Growing up, I was always the odd one out. With my almond eyes and olive skin, I was an alien compared to the rest of my family with their blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. Although I would always tell myself that I am no different than everyone else, I was and I knew it. As I got older, I constantly denied myself from accepting who I really was which caused so much doubt and distress, even anger. More confused than ever, I turned to God, my friends and my family to help me on my journey of self acceptance, where, in the end, I learned to love who I am and love my ground.
I was raised in a traditional Vietnamese household where the sharp, lingering taste of bitter melon was a treat, family was everything, and everyone spoke Vietnamese. However, I lived in a community where speaking English was the majority and I was very clearly, a minority. There were hardly any other people who spoke Vietnamese where I lived. Because of this, I slowly lost my grasp with the Vietnamese language and my ability to communicate with my family This was terrifying for me; as a result, I have made efforts to learn and speak Vietnamese even though it sounds horrendous because I still have a voice and want to be heard.
Growing up in a hispanic home is a blessing. Having spanish as my first language then later on, when entering school, came english. Being fluent in both spanish and english comes in handy more times than not. For myself, and for those of my family members that only speak spanish. That is one of my motivations to keep learning spanish and earn the biliteracy seal.
1. What were your expectations before you started serving this organization (physical characteristics, neighborhood, personnel, individuals you served, etc.? The first day I entered Sant La, I didn 't have high expectations coming in. Since Sant La is known to be a Haitian community center known to help the Haitian community.
As a child it was hard for me to learn two languages at once, but it was essential to break the communication barrier. By the age of three I spoke proficient
They told me that it was really hard to communicate with people that spoke English because they didn’t know not even a little of English. They never learned English in Mexico because my dad went only as far as second grade and then he stopped going to school because my grandma told him that it would be better if you just started working. And he did, he would sell bread around his little town. It’s not a coincidence that he now works in a baking factory my mom also dropped out from school to work also.
The Haitian revolution had a massive impact on Haiti today and other countries around the world. It was the most successful slave uprising in the world and its story was an inspiration to many. The revolution that happened from 1791 to 1804 would later lead to the economic disaster that the country has become today. The country was discovered by an Italian navigator known as Christopher Columbus. He decided to call it La Isla Española and later changed it to Hispaniola.