Que te puedo decir?

In reading my daughter's and son-in-law's blogs, I, too, will contribute to the when and wheres of speaking in our language.

I am first generation American. My parents are from Mexico, but now citizens of the United States. I grew up speaking, reading and writing in Spanish. Our parents did talk to us in Spanish and I have always respected this language.

When I was young, we attended a school in a small rural community in southern Idaho. We were there because we were migrant farm workers. My dad and mom decided we would no longer migrate because we needed to go to school. All the "compadres" decided the same, therefore, we lived all together in another small community about 20 miles from this school. I loved school. I remembered the first year I was there. I sat in a classroom that was predominantly white. My teacher's name was Mrs. Nutting. She had short curly permed hair and wore glasses and she was nice. At the beginning I used to listen to her talk not knowing what she was saying. Teachers read from the Bible every morning right after the Pledge of Allegiance. Recess was a form of a life- saver because we (our friends) were able to converse in Spanish until a teacher would walk by us and say "Speak English!!" We would grow quiet. Once they were far enough away, we returned to our Spanish.

My dad had us older children read in Spanish and write to our cousins in Mexico in Spanish. Movies for us were at a Mexican theater in Paul, Idaho. I loved going there because all the "compadres" kids were there, too. We'd run and sit way in the front with our popcorn and soda. Watched a lot of good movies there. The only English-speaking movie I saw when I was a kid was "The Three Stooges in Outer Space." It was so funny!

I tried very hard to hold on to my language. My parents slowly began using more and more English to communicate with the outside world. English was survival, it was a way to get and hold a job, it was acceptance. My mom used it more with us kids than my dad. My dad still spoke to us in Spanish. It was ok. English and Spanish.

Sometimes speaking English is seen as a way to be successful in this country, it's seen that way now and it was seen that way a long time ago. It's what you do with it that counts. Retaining your own language is a must, it's a treasure. When my mom and I are alone, she will speak to me in Spanish and I to her. It 's more comfortable that way. I think in Spanish and translate to English. In disciplining my students at work, it's easier in Spanish because I think faster in Spanish. Yes, my own children learned more in English because of their environment whether it was preschool, day care, English-speaking relatives, but had I been more able to teach them in Spanish I would have.

The moral of this long rambling is this: Teach your children Spanish or any other language along with English. They'll be geniuses (like my kids :-)