Sure, there were times in elementary school where I would be told I had incorrect grammar, but for the most part, knowing other languages helped me connect with other children of immigrants. I have been exposed to many languages from a young age and being able to pick up on these languages has only benefited me. My parents speak a variety of Indian dialects, and English was not a language they learned until their late teenage years. I live in the United States, but my parents immigrated here from India. I bring my culture and language with me wherever I go. Please note: Student comments have been lightly edited for length, but otherwise appear as they were originally submitted. Union County Vocational-Technical High School in Scotch Plains, N.J. Thank you to all those who joined the conversation on our writing prompts this week, including students from Casa Roble High School in Orangevale, Calif. We also heard from several students who never had the chance to learn their relatives’ native tongue and regretted it.īenjamin, a student from San Jose, Calif., who grew up speaking English and Mandarin, summed up a sentiment many students expressed about their linguistic heritages: “Back in elementary school, I was often told that I had an accent, but now that I think about it, I’m not that embarrassed, because it’s a flex to know multiple languages.” Read on to see what else teenagers had to say about what their families’ native languages mean to them. We heard from those who took pride in their family’s multilingualism and from those who were made to feel ashamed of it, but eventually came to cherish it. We heard from young people who speak Russian, Telugu, Spanish, Farsi, Cantonese, Twi, Quichua, Arabic and Polish. What role does your family’s native tongue play in your life? we asked students. In the guest essay “ ‘Don’t Lose Your Accent!’” Ilan Stavans urges newcomers to the United States to embrace their “immigrant verbal heritage.” He writes that “far from undermining the American experiment, immigrants enhance our culture by introducing new ideas, cuisines and art. Do you speak any languages besides English at home? Did your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents when they were growing up? Do you or anyone else in your family have what might be considered an accent?
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