Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
My greatest summer reading challenge yet: Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in Spanish! Let's just say I haven't begun fully tackling it yet. I just started reading the first chapter. Although I am by no means a fluent Spanish speaker, I was fairing decently. Perhaps it is because I've read the material before. Perhaps I am simply good at guessing. Either way, I am excited to see some growth in my Spanish comprehension, however small that may be.
My views towards native Spanish speakers living in the United States have changed drastically over the past year. I attribute that to volunteering in a Saturday school classroom that consisted entirely of English language learners. I am constantly hearing that Spanish speakers belligerently speak only Spanish and that they don't want to learn English. Those voices couldn't be more wrong in about 90% of cases. Each of those kids was trying exceedingly hard to keep up with their regular class during the week; a class full of native English speakers. They were in no way belligerent. They wanted to learn as much and often more than regular classes of students. Hard working, but confused, they would light up whenever I spoke even simple Spanish phrases with them. It just showed them that I was trying to span the learning gap; the divide between their understanding and mine.
It's not about making a point, it's about helping people grow and succeed no matter who they are or where they came from.
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