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Joy to my mother ...!
I was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. My dad was bilingual (Spanish & English). Mom speaks Spanish , but very little English. -
First dwelling: Patillas, the Emerald of the South
My grandparents took care of me while my parents studied and worked. Grandma was Cuban. The Spanish I learned from her had a unique rythm, full of passion. Grandpa who was very old, had ancestors from Spain. His accent, although funny at the time, showed as well as I babbled my first words, trying to imitate him. -
Relocation: Salinas, Puerto Rico
We moved to Salinas. Studying at a Catholic school in Kinder was a nurturing experience since Sister Maria had a motherly way to teach how to speak Spanish correctly. Both of my parents were teachers; my mother focused on modeling new words, specially verbs. Dad talked English casually with friends that came to visit, but never held an English conversation with mom. I loved to listen to those "strange, but interesting words" that nobody else spoke so beautifully. -
Public School Transfer
One of the many giants I had to face at such tender age was a "fresh" grueling start in a new school where I knew nobody. Mrs. Rodriguez (home room teacher) and Mrs. Perez (English teacher) made it better. Mrs. Perez formally introduced me to the warm currents of the English sea in such a fun, dynamic way that passion for this language began to grow inside of me. I did not hesitate to become a member of her English Club. -
Years later ...
Time went by quickly! Conversational English courses, Spanish labs, and tons of books throughout the years had aided me to develop oral coomunication, reading and writing skills in both languages. As a high schooler, dreams of becoming a medicine doctor were my driving force. Therefore, extra special effort was put into literature, grammar, and Science classes in which constant extreme composition drills where part of the daily menu. -
Designing the future
Learning Spanish through literature classics and pretty good English from excellent public schools educators from first through twelfth grade, prepared me to what was ahead: college life. Intensive college level courses based on building up vocabulary as well as owning techniques for decoding, reading, writing have been valuable tools in my professional as well as personal expansion. -
New beginnings: Massachusetts
Jobless after graduation, I took the plunge and moved to the United States. Working among Hispanics who spoke English as well as with native English speakers in the retail industry pushed me to socially interact with them in order to become more fluent. A few embarrassing language-related situations with customers I did not understand made me turned to soap opera watching just to improve listening and speaking skills. Consequently, some language regionalisms became embedded within me. -
Back to the Island: Career shift and higher steps
Working as a teacher for the fist time was the encouragement I needed to go back to college. All the courses I have taken since then have broadened my native and non native language skills, which in turn have enriched all types of relationships along the path. -
And nowwww ...
As enrolling these courses has become a whole new challenge for many different reasons, it sure proves that Spanish and English linguistic development has not stopped as of yet!
