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Spanish helped me reconnect to my Mexican roots – and feel more American | |
(about 5 hours later) | |
In my California-born and bred Mexican-American family, the sentiment that speaking Spanish is un-American has stuck around for generations. In my family, we pronounce our last name the Anglo way, TELL-ez, instead of the Spanish way, TAY-es. It’s partially why I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. My mom, who is bilingual, didn’t want my brothers or me to have an accent. And my dad couldn’t have taught me – he spoke only English in his house growing up. | In my California-born and bred Mexican-American family, the sentiment that speaking Spanish is un-American has stuck around for generations. In my family, we pronounce our last name the Anglo way, TELL-ez, instead of the Spanish way, TAY-es. It’s partially why I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. My mom, who is bilingual, didn’t want my brothers or me to have an accent. And my dad couldn’t have taught me – he spoke only English in his house growing up. |
The first sign that maybe not knowing Spanish was a bad idea happened when I was little, when I’d go to family gatherings and not be able to understand my aunts or my great-grandmothers. “Cierra la puerta”, my aunt told me once, while we were visiting at her house. I stared at her and didn’t move. My little cousin, who is fluent in both languages, giggled. This girl doesn’t even know how to shut the door! | The first sign that maybe not knowing Spanish was a bad idea happened when I was little, when I’d go to family gatherings and not be able to understand my aunts or my great-grandmothers. “Cierra la puerta”, my aunt told me once, while we were visiting at her house. I stared at her and didn’t move. My little cousin, who is fluent in both languages, giggled. This girl doesn’t even know how to shut the door! |
When I was around 10, we visited the house in Tijuana where my mom had lived as a child. We drove down a bumpy dirt road and pulled up to a small pink house. Again, I stared. My mom had grown up here? We lived in a four-bedroom house in a fairly new subdivision. I was dying to listen to my mom’s conversation, but once inside her childhood home, my brother and I couldn’t understand anything so we sat there and watched TV. | When I was around 10, we visited the house in Tijuana where my mom had lived as a child. We drove down a bumpy dirt road and pulled up to a small pink house. Again, I stared. My mom had grown up here? We lived in a four-bedroom house in a fairly new subdivision. I was dying to listen to my mom’s conversation, but once inside her childhood home, my brother and I couldn’t understand anything so we sat there and watched TV. |
My Mexican cultural education might have consisted of those few things – family gatherings where I couldn’t understand people, the tamales that my grandma made at Christmas, the Little Joe albums that my mom sometimes played. But I moved to Boston for college and realized that the rest of the world saw me differently than I saw myself. New friends saw my dark hair and eyes and asked where I was really from. Strangers stopped me on the street to ask for directions in Spanish. | My Mexican cultural education might have consisted of those few things – family gatherings where I couldn’t understand people, the tamales that my grandma made at Christmas, the Little Joe albums that my mom sometimes played. But I moved to Boston for college and realized that the rest of the world saw me differently than I saw myself. New friends saw my dark hair and eyes and asked where I was really from. Strangers stopped me on the street to ask for directions in Spanish. |
Other Latinas lived on my floor freshman year, and I thought I’d have someone to commiserate with. But they were from South Texas and spoke Spanglish. I had never heard anyone mix English and Spanish in one sentence, and it was much harder to pretend you were cool and understood. | Other Latinas lived on my floor freshman year, and I thought I’d have someone to commiserate with. But they were from South Texas and spoke Spanglish. I had never heard anyone mix English and Spanish in one sentence, and it was much harder to pretend you were cool and understood. |
Knowing Spanish suddenly felt like a gift I’d missed out on. The language had weaved itself through a good two-thirds of my family, and I had a Spanish-language last name and (people told me) looked Mexican. But my parents hadn’t connected me to the Mexican culture or tongue because, well, we were American. | Knowing Spanish suddenly felt like a gift I’d missed out on. The language had weaved itself through a good two-thirds of my family, and I had a Spanish-language last name and (people told me) looked Mexican. But my parents hadn’t connected me to the Mexican culture or tongue because, well, we were American. |
That seemed like a lame excuse. By the time I graduated college, I vowed that I would someday learn Spanish – to fill in that crack in my identity, to mark my place in the world. The only way to really become fluent was to live in Mexico, I reasoned. It took several years, but in 2008, I quit my newspaper job. In 2009, I moved to Mexico City with my husband. | That seemed like a lame excuse. By the time I graduated college, I vowed that I would someday learn Spanish – to fill in that crack in my identity, to mark my place in the world. The only way to really become fluent was to live in Mexico, I reasoned. It took several years, but in 2008, I quit my newspaper job. In 2009, I moved to Mexico City with my husband. |
My life took off before I even knew what was happening. I fell in love with the food and decided to devote my time to learning about it. I roamed the streets, talked to vendors – at first, haltingly; but more confidently once my Spanish improved – and wrote about food and the city’s markets on my blog. I started a company that gave street food tours to tourists eager for a taste of authentic Mexican food. I went to cooking school for Mexican gastronomy, completely in Spanish. Then I wrote a Mexican food cookbook. | My life took off before I even knew what was happening. I fell in love with the food and decided to devote my time to learning about it. I roamed the streets, talked to vendors – at first, haltingly; but more confidently once my Spanish improved – and wrote about food and the city’s markets on my blog. I started a company that gave street food tours to tourists eager for a taste of authentic Mexican food. I went to cooking school for Mexican gastronomy, completely in Spanish. Then I wrote a Mexican food cookbook. |
Related: Ricky Martin attacks 'racist, absurd and incoherent' Donald Trump | Related: Ricky Martin attacks 'racist, absurd and incoherent' Donald Trump |
I couldn’t have done any of it without knowing the language. And now that I know Spanish, funnily enough, I feel more American and more comfortable with myself than ever. | I couldn’t have done any of it without knowing the language. And now that I know Spanish, funnily enough, I feel more American and more comfortable with myself than ever. |
When I hear people like Donald Trump yammering on about Americans needing to speak English, they should know that there are plenty of Mexican-Americans who agree with them. But I feel sad for them, and for their kids who’ll miss out on the gift that I dedicated a decade of my life to learning. It is worth it to know two languages. | When I hear people like Donald Trump yammering on about Americans needing to speak English, they should know that there are plenty of Mexican-Americans who agree with them. But I feel sad for them, and for their kids who’ll miss out on the gift that I dedicated a decade of my life to learning. It is worth it to know two languages. |
A few years ago, I went back to my mom’s childhood home. The relative whom we’d met all those years ago still lived there. This time I greeted her in proper, polite Spanish and talked to her, and I listened to stories about my mom when she was young. | A few years ago, I went back to my mom’s childhood home. The relative whom we’d met all those years ago still lived there. This time I greeted her in proper, polite Spanish and talked to her, and I listened to stories about my mom when she was young. |
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