My greatest love and me met when I was 4 years old.
I was a little too shy to formally meet him at the time. He was bold, mysterious and ever alluring. I didn’t understand him of course, I had no formal education in his ways, but still my love grew for this mysterious unknown identity that spoke to me in verses and poems. It wasn’t until the day in which he whispered the word “azul” to me as I twirled my blue crayon when my fate was sealed as a star-crossed lover. His voice offered be an alternate choice to a favorite mysticism of a color. My joy could not be contained. I’d sing the word “azul” as I danced with my childhood teddy bear and would scrawl the word in my frenzied preschool drawings. I didn’t learn his name until my parents introduced me to him a year later. They sat me down and told me, “This is Spanish.” I was fascinated, my giggles hardly contained. My love had a name! They went on to tell me that I was to be enrolled into a school called Georgia Brown Elementary where Spanish was to be at my every side. I was absolutely elated. And then immediately nervous. My brain turned the gears of thousands of what if’s. What if he didn’t like me as I liked him? What if he laughed at my funny accent? What if I grew to never truly understand him? My childish worries were put at bay as new words slipped from his lips and I continued to be held, entranced by the fluidity of a language largely characterized by its people.
It’s been about 12 years since that day we met and I couldn’t be happier. Sure, there has been some rocky points and slight frustrating miscommunications but they are nothing compared to the joy I’ve felt by speaking and writing through the voice of a tango song. Through my experiences in elementary school, Spanish let me borrow the lenses of a perspective unlike that of a typical American child. He opened my eyes to a culture that deeply cared about the ancestors of the past and the importance of family. He taught me how to feel and apply rhythm in the music that had my heart thumping. He shared his family recipes and helped mold my relationships with the food that held me together and left unmistakable smiles on my face. He introduced me to a new people and let me appreciate the differences spanning more than one culture. He taught me how to be fearless and keep my chin up when I mess up. He taught me how to find the fun in working hard to achieve a goal for a greater purpose. When life began to take its toll he whispered words of encouragement and told me he wasn’t going anywhere. He remained my constant variable on the non-linear path of a life. When I was ready, he gave me the keys to the door decorated in optimistic future and endless possibilities. And yet our story is not over. We are planning to travel the world. To expand our borders and share the language and experiences that Spanish generously gifted me and my community.
The diverse population of PRHS spreads across several boundaries of language, ranging anywhere from French to American Sign Language. Staff members and students such as French teacher Michael Delbar, Spanish teacher Geof Land and trilingual student Savannah Putman share their love for new languages not only with the countries and families that primarily speak them but with the community as well.
Delbar was brought to the US from Belgium when he was only five years old. English became his second language and he later incorporated Spanish after marrying his bilingual wife. His language skills have allowed him to travel to places such as Belgium, France, Holland, England, Scotland and Spain. “I feel like I have one foot in Europe and one foot in the United States,” said Delbar. Delbar also takes a psychological view on languages and finds that studying a new language is almost like learning how to master playing an instrument.
“I think it's definitely better to [learn] a second language. I think there's a correlation between people that play musical instruments, people who are strong in math, and people that are strong in languages,” Delbar said.
Savannah Putman was born to a family that incorporated signing into their daily lives. At a young age she learned American Sign Language in order to communicate with her family members that were unable to hear properly. After being immersed in ASL, she entered into a school that taught her Spanish and from then on she became trilingual. She found that ASL was a wonderful way to gain perspective on a new form of communication that in no way lacked personality. “That's basically what ASL is. It’s got a lot of expression,” Putman said. She believes that, “the fastest way [to learn a new language] is to be more immersed in the actual language because when you're immersed you kind of soak it up like a sponge and you are able to learn a lot more vocabulary.”
“That's basically what ASL is. It’s got a lot of expression,” Putman said.
Land was introduced to Spanish when he took his first language class in 7th grade. His spark grew when he had the opportunity to travel to Mexico as an 8th grader and experience, “ a whole world of people speaking this language.” From then on, he continued his language studies through high school and college courses and even spent a year abroad in Spain, which “really changed my life.” His favorite words in Spanish include “relampago”, “murcielago” and “almohada” which mean lightning, bat and pillow, respectively. Land believes that the best way to learn a new language is to get hands on experience through visiting that native country or region. “Travel and appreciate the value of speaking to other people in their native language and the friendships that you make and the doors that open for you,” he said. Learn more about Land’s experiences in the video above.
“Travel and appreciate the value of speaking to other people in their native language and the friendships that you make and the doors that open for you,” Land said.
Son muchas las ventajas de ser bilingüe
Mi más grande amor y yo, nos conocimos cuando tenía 4 años de edad. Yo era un poco demasiado tímida para formalmente reunirme con él en el momento. El era atrevido y misterioso. No lo entendia por supuesto, no tenía educación formal en sus caminos, pero todavía mi amor creció por este misteriosa identidad desconocido que me hablaba en versos y poemas. No fue hasta el día en que el me susurró la palabra "azul" mientras giraba mi crayón azul, cuando mi destino estaba sellado como un amante desafortunado. Su voz se ofreció a ser una alternativa a mi color favorito. Mi alegría no podría ser contenida. Yo cantaba la palabra "Azul" mientras bailaba con mi oso de peluche y escribía la palabra en mi dibujos frenéticas de pre escolar. No aprendí su nombre hasta que mis padres me introdujeron a él un año más tarde. Se me sentó y me dijo: "Esto es Español". Estaba fascinada, mi risa apenas contenida. ¡Mi amor tenía nombre! Fueron a decirme que iba a estar matriculado en una escuela llamada Georgia Brown Elementary, dónde Español iba a ser en cada lado de mi. Estaba absolutamente eufórica. Y entonces inmediatamente nervioso. ¿Qué pasa si no le gustaba me como me gustaba? ¿Qué pasa si él se reía de mi acento gracioso? ¿Qué pasa si crecí a nunca realmente entenderlo? Mis preocupaciones infantiles fueron puestos en la bahía como nuevas palabras se deslizaron de sus labios y continué a ser celebrada, fascinado por la fluidez de un lenguaje que se caracteriza en gran medida por su gente.
Vive el bilinguismo