Spanish is a huge part of the Texan culture, so when I found out I had to take a foreign language class in high school I figured Spanish would be the best. I have never even vacationed outside the state of Texas, which leaves me with a lot of Texas culture. However, I still was missing Spanish in both ways; knowing the language and the influence in Texas.
I now have that part of Texan culture in my life. It’s been helpful in history, communicating with other people that don’t speak very fluent English, and understanding what a Texan is. In school there are even other students who ask for my help. When I teach them it reminds me of the struggle I went through to be able to understand the Spanish language.
My teacher was a good teacher at heart,
…show more content…
A lot of the Spanish he learned was passed on from ancestors. This Spanish over the years however was diluted with Spanish slang from this area and the modernization of the language. Not only but he was always informed with the new forms words or phrases of Spanish from his brother who needs the language for his job in the FBI. It was still mostly similar to what we were learning in my Spanish class however it didn’t fully connect to what we were doing.
Even though it wasn’t the best help I could get; it brought my grade up from failing to just passing. This surprised me as I thought there wasn’t that big of a difference from the Tex-Mex my uncle taught me and the Spanish that we were learning. However, foreign language classes teach the language in its purest form to help prevent the language and its proper use from being lost.
There are a lot of kids taking Spanish because of how big it is in Texas, and even though they knew Spanish, there were also kids that grew up with it and took Spanish for an easy A. These kids would speak Spanish to each other when they didn’t want others to know what they were saying or that’s how their parents expected them to talk to family. Now they did have their own variations of Spanish including mine. However, they were still doing the same work that I was doing, and since they knew what the teacher was talking about they would apply their knowledge easier than I
…show more content…
He was also the teacher’s best student because he had the highest grade and wasn’t scared to answer a question. I can’t remember ever getting one wrong.
I eventually let him know that I had a serious problem with learning Spanish from our teacher and if I didn’t get I was going to fail. My biggest problems were the eighteen different conjugations we had to use and how to structure a sentence. There are four present tense, four past tense, three futures, four conditionals, one simple, and three preterite tenses. He first taught me how to use all of the conjugations because without those I could never learn how to structure a sentence appropriately. Once he taught me how to structure a sentence I never felt so confident in my ability to speak Spanish.
The final eventually came along and I was nervous but not as nervous as I was before. I walked out of Spanish 1 with an 80 which was far better than my 55 that I started my year with. Though I was there to learn Spanish; I walked out realizing that it isn’t always the student that’s at fault for not understanding a subject. The teacher plays a huge part in making sure the student will understand. With my teacher; I had a communication barrier that prevented me from understanding what she was talking about. So whenever a kid looks up to me for help I either do my best to explain it to them or refer them to someone
Texas is a true melting pot and it is the differing cultures that make Texas great. Although there are many native Texans born each day, there are just as many that migrate across the country to make Texas their home (Wyly & Wyly, 2012, p. 29). In the beginning, Texas was settled by Scots-Irish, Germans, Czech, Poles, and Italians. However, the greatest influence on the identity of Texas was shaped by the Hispanic culture when they left Mexico behind to make Texas their home (Wyly & Wyly, 2012, p. 15). This cross-cultural influence in Texas creates an open atmosphere, a friendly environment, and a sense of pride that others want to be a part of and that tradition continues today with immigrants arriving from the Middle East, Southeast Asia as well as other parts of the world (Wyly & Wyly, 2012, p. 15).
Both were trying their best to cope with the fact that the they’re schools would not let them speak Spanish, as Anzaldua says,
English should not be declared Texas' official language. If English were to be declared as the official state language, I feel that it would be very limiting for the state. Although some argue that by declaring it official it will be an incentive for all the non-english speakers to learn English at a faster pace. Even though that might be true, it could also become detrimental for English speaker's education. Therefore people not only need to learn English, but also learn other languages that would help the state grow as a whole. The state of Texas has a very diverse population that for the most part speaks English, therefore, Texas' unofficial language is English, there is no need to make it law. We are told that in a few years the population's
One of the biggest foreign influences in Texas is Mexico. One reason people would immigrate to Texas is if they had hardships in the place they were living before. For example, the Mexican revolution was a hardship in Mexico. This caused much chaos in the government and forced people to move out of the country. Texas was an obvious choice because it was close and not very popular.
The students' characteristics are that most of them are taking the class because it is an elective and they don't really need to take it and also for the Spanish-speaking students it is more of a burden to learn the more of the language as they "already know it" and his parents would rather have them speak English than Spanish. They are in America, so they must speak English and not Spanish anymore. I was, also, able to see some of the ones that are proud taking that class and happy that they can share and learn more of their
Even though my mother was Mexican it was hard for me to speak to my friends who knew mostly Spanish and a little English because Spanish was not my first language. As years went on, I went to high school, where now I can have a full conversation with my Spanish speaking friends, and since it is an international high school, it brings in more cultural diversity. With this international high school in El Paso, it has helped me learn new cultures and experience the dozens of traits they do for activities or how they celebrate
My stepson spent a few years living in Mission, Texas, so I asked him about the pride of the Texas people. He informed me that living in Texas
Having the ability to speak both English and Spanish is a great advantage to anyone living in or visiting these states. Along with the language, this embraced diversity brings forth great cuisine. Along the span of either state you will find restaurants that offer cuisine geared towards the Hispanic culture. Variations of the cuisine have also been developed such as TexMex, which is an Americanized version of Mexican food and is popular both in California and Florida.
Spanish is a huge part of the Texan culture, and this is evident when I look around and see the translations for Spanish speakers. Translations like advertencia (warning) and baño (bathroom), or sights like the battle of San Jacinto and the Alamo are impacts from the Spanish. When I found out I had to take a foreign language class in high school, I figured Spanish would be the best. I have never even vacationed outside the state of Texas, which leaves me with a lot of Texas culture. However, I still was missing Spanish in both ways knowing the language and its influence on Texas.
I believe that Hispanic influence is evident through much of the architecture and food found in Texas. Through architecture, Hispanic influence is noticed through construction materials, colors, and design styles. Examples of Hispanic influence on architecture are clear in many of the buildings in San Antonio, Texas, including the Alamo. In addition to architecture, I think there is an obvious Hispanic influence on the food found in Texas. Texas is well-known for our "Tex-Mex", and Hispanic-influenced cuisine can be found in nearly any city. Food has a way of bringing people together and bringing insight into other cultures. I believe that the Hispanic influence in Texas through ranching, and even architecture and food, allows for an intermingling, appreciation, and growth of both
My first language learned and spoken at home was spanish. Although us Salvadorians speak spanish we say and pronounce certain words differently. It?s almost like the difference between the American and British english. We speak spanish but have different words which sometimes causes confusion to other spanish speakers. I remembered one day me and my mexican friend were talking about her upcoming quinceanera. I remember telling her, ?It?s going to be so much fun learning the dance moves for the special dance! Although I bet some of the bichos are going to be messing around and acting immature?. The confusing in her face after hearing me say that was priceless and I couldn?t help but burst out laughing. ?Did you just call the boys insects??, she
Spanish is my native language, however, my mother advised my siblings and I to speak only English. This was because she was afraid that we would be rejected from professional careers if our English wasn 't unaccented, fluent, and similar in refinement to the working class whites. With time, I became a fluent English speaker with a developed Central American accent but like, any other young girl, I thought nothing of it. That is until one event, in particular, occurred that would cast a shadow of embarrassment onto my Spanish language. This event not only led me to desert my entire native language but a sense of my cultural identity, as well.
Along with ASL, I took two years of Spanish in high school. Having two teachers, I had different experiences in the classroom. My first teacher solely taught the class on memorization, minimal rules were mentioned and accents were not addressed in class. Much of the class was taught in English and my teachers Spanish was not the best. My second teacher challenged the students, he required all responses to be in Spanish, active participation and daily homework. He focused on grammar rules and applying them in different situations,
Finding jobs should be relatively easy to get by knowing Spanish. Imagine not needing to pay a translator to guide you throughout your vacation. When you’re able to communicate with people that doesn’t speak English, it truly is satisfying. Learning Spanish is a superb way to advance your tuition and academics. Students taking a Spanish class should be compulsory by cause of it supports you in your career, it’s neat exercise to the human brain, and vacationing around the world would be much more simple.
For some reason I was considered to speak Spanish better than most, that’s not true. My vocabulary is not as extensive as others; I think it’s simply that I am willing to speak.