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When I was younger I was limited to only English along with some Spanish words

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Eventually when I reached into middle/high school is when I started to take Spanish classes and was able to expand my vocabulary just by a few words

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When I had started college I began to enhance my Spanish by taking Duolingo, which in the end helped me learn more words and be able to form small sentences to converse with others

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Typically I use English everywhere like with family, friends, school and work.

Sometimes at work I will only get Spanish speaker customers and use very broken Spanish to speak with them.

I also have a coworker who only speaks Spanish so when I can I try my best to speak to her in Spanish, but if some words and sentences are out of my vocab I would use google translate to help me

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The few times I began to practice learning Spanish it made me feel like I actually belonged to my culture. Even though some people are judgmental of no sabo kids, I think that practicing is better than nothing. That little motivation I get to learn Spanish every year is what matters and as long as I try and make an effort everything will be okay.

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For me I think that language helps me represent my culture in small ways, because there are not many instances where I can show my culture but when I speak it, it feels as if I’m showing it off in some manner. Resulting in making me feel more confident about myself.

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For some background my grandpa used to live in Mexico before he died, and even though I never spoke spanish I would always look up to him. This admiration I always had for him was something I used to cling onto to learn Spanish. Whenever my mother would teach us small words in the back of my mind, I would think “The more I learn, the more I can go visit him and see him again!” He was always my number 1 motivator when it came to learning spanish.

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Baby: Could not speak any words, I could only cry and whine

Toodler: Could speak some English but had no experience with Spanish yet

At 5 Years Old: Majority knew English but used a lot of Spanish words in my sentences

Elementary: Fluent in English but forgot Spanish due to forcing myself away from the language

Middleschool: Fluent in English but barely knew any of the basics in Spanish

Highschool: Fluent English but only knew how to say the basics in Spanish

Beginning of College: Fluent English but only knew how to say broken sentences in Spanish but began to progress more with the use of Duolingo

Present: Can speak fluent English and I can say very few sentences in Spanish

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When it comes to the future I would love it if I became fluent in Spanish. The reason I say this is because I’ve always wanted to be fluent. It's just that I currently have no motivation to learn it, but when I do manage to learn it I hope that I am able to communicate with my peers on a more extensive level. There are so many people that I would love to befriend but due to language barriers I am unable to get to know them. If I ever have kids I would hopefully be able to teach them Spanish, so that they don’t feel like they are missing out.

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When I was in middle school I would force myself to stop pronouncing Spanish words correctly, and instead say it with a more "white" tone

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Once I reached high school I could notice how much I was disconnected with the language, and made an effort to learn how to pronounce Spanish words again

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A method of practicing my mom used to help me was to watch Movies or TV shows in Spanish so that what the actors are saying sticks to my brain

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This movie was one we always watched together

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Overall I've had my highs and lows with the Spanish language but it brings out the best of my culture that I'm able to share with my peers. There are so many ways I was able to show through out my life whether is was movies, songs, or writing. Hopefully what the future has planned is where I can give the most of my identity and show it though more media with fluency