English is my second language because both my parents immigrated from the Dominican Republic to the United States a couple of years before I was born, and neither one of them learned to speak English. The primary language in the Dominican Republic is Spanish, therefore, that is the language I was the most exposed. Fortunately, I was given the opportunity to learn English at a young age but learning this new language at just four years old did not prevent me from developing an accent. Although my accent isn’t the strongest, and it may take people a while to notice it, when people do point it out, it isn’t something I’ve ever been ashamed of. It is a part of my culture and my identity and those are both things that I have come to love and appreciate throughout my life. After all, language is merely the main form of human communication, which consists of words conveyed by speech, writing, etc.

There are many moments in my life that play a role in my language/ literacy experiences; one of them was when I started preschool. Obviously I can’t remember much about this event, but I can definitely say that it helped shape the person I am today. Not only does this accent represent my Dominican heritage, but it also demonstrates where I grew up. The Bronx is the birthplace of hip-hop and salsa but it is also my home. That’s the kind of English I grew up around. I guess you could consider it “Black English ” in a sense, then again the majority of Bronx residents speak either English, Spanish, or something we Hispanics like to call Spanglish, which is just a mixture of both. We like to create new words like, for example, lunch becomes lonche when in reality the correct word for lunch in Spanish would be “almuerzo”. This is something that I catch myself doing often because the people I associate with can usually speak English and “Dominican” Spanish as well (the quotations around the word “Dominican” are used to showcase how diverse the Spanish language can be; such as its slang, dialect, etc.)

Believe it or not, I do remember my first ever day of school. My mom and I got to school late that day (this later became a common occurrence throughout most of my school years). When we got there, I noticed all of the other kids had already been dropped off and the lesson had started, but as soon as I realized my mom was going to leave me in this terrible place for 4 hours, I was livid. I  hadn’t been away from my mom for that long in my whole existence, so I immediately started crying and held onto her leg for dear life. Then again my mother had no choice but to leave me behind, and the other kids seemed to enjoy preschool so why couldn’t II?  After all, the environment I was placed in was meant to cater to my needs, with building blocks in every corner, a colorful rug in the center of the classroom, and picture books waiting to be picked up. My new teachers’ names were Ms. Jackie and Ms. Jessie. Ms. Jackie was a short brown woman who wore glasses, and Ms. Jessie was a white (possibly Hispanic) woman with long jet-black hair. I’m surprised I even remember what they look like, but then again I guess that’s only because of the impact starting preschool had on me. Little did I know, this inconvenience would later become a blessing, as, by the end of the year, I would now be the little Dominican girl that could speak two languages instead of only one.

Although it has benefitted me today, I can’t exactly say learning English this young helped me put myself out there when I was younger. I was a shy person most of my life, whenever I would get put in situations with new people around me I would never leave my mother’s side. I didn’t like strangers or even people I knew for years upon years. I was simply just not a people person and I would get anxious whenever someone would try to start a conversation with me. Now I am able to hold and even enjoy conversations with strangers, I’m not worried about being judged because of who I am. I can definitely say that the confidence I’ve gained because of my experience with language, has helped better my character development throughout the years. Knowing that I can depend on my speech skills to navigate myself through the world is one of the greatest parts of being bilingual, and although I still can’t say I’m the boldest person I know, I get around, and if anything needs to be said, I know that both languages are at my disposal. The Spanish language is one of the things that play the biggest role in my cultural identity and tie me back to my Dominican roots. But learning English has opened up so many opportunities for me and without this knowledge, I really couldn’t tell you who or even where I’d be today.