Reyna Grande
Hey! I just got back from an incredible week from the Dominican Republic, hence the tardiness of this post (packing and leaving the country with no service made it difficult to keep up), but more on that later.
Last week, I had the pleasure of hearing Reyna Grande talk about her story in both English and Spanish! Reyna spoke at length about her journey from caterpillar to butterfly, going from an undocumented citizen to an incredibly proficient and successful writer.
I am amazed and thrilled to say that I understood almost every single word she said in her Spanish presentation! Clearly, I am progressing as a Spanish learner. Gracias a mis profersores de español por todo que han hacido y hacen para mi!
The focus of Reyna's presentation was her writing in Spanish and her writing in English. Growing up in the United States, part of her rejected her Mexican heritage because she was told only to speak English. She talk about the theory of learning a new language and how one of two things happen: either you adopt the new language and keep the old one, or you lost the old one as you adopt the new one. She experienced the latter. She was so focused on learning English that she lost a lot of her Spanish. Now, she writes her books in English and can't even understand some of the words used in the Spanish translation of her book. I can't imagine what it must be like to look up words that you wrote in a dictionary in a language that you speak. They are her words, and she doesn't even know them. However, there is some explanation. Many people who are fluent in their mother tongue but a schooled in another know how to speak the language colloquially but do not know the spelling or grammar or very intellectual words in their mother tongue. They learned the language from hearing and speaking, not reading or writing. I have multiple friends in my Spanish class who are fluent speakers but struggle with grammar and spelling, which they attest to the colloquial manner in which they learned Spanish.
I think this concept is very interesting because it is one that I have heard little about but probably affects many, many people. This week I talked with my friend Maaso (a freshman at Poly), who's mother tongue is Spanish. He explained to me that he has lost a lot of his Spanish because he doesn't practice it any more. He and his family were so focused on learning and adopting English and the American culture that they lost part of their past. Now that he is in high school, he is redoubling his efforts to recover his Spanish.
I understand that this reflection has less to do with Reyna's actual words or stories, but this seemed to be the theme of her presentation, and it certainly had a huge impact on my perspective toward learning a new language and a small detail of what immigrating to a new country must be like. I am so thankful that Reyna came to speak with us last week, and I admire the courage and openness with which she recounted her story and life. Thanks for everything, Reyna!
Last week, I had the pleasure of hearing Reyna Grande talk about her story in both English and Spanish! Reyna spoke at length about her journey from caterpillar to butterfly, going from an undocumented citizen to an incredibly proficient and successful writer.
I am amazed and thrilled to say that I understood almost every single word she said in her Spanish presentation! Clearly, I am progressing as a Spanish learner. Gracias a mis profersores de español por todo que han hacido y hacen para mi!
The focus of Reyna's presentation was her writing in Spanish and her writing in English. Growing up in the United States, part of her rejected her Mexican heritage because she was told only to speak English. She talk about the theory of learning a new language and how one of two things happen: either you adopt the new language and keep the old one, or you lost the old one as you adopt the new one. She experienced the latter. She was so focused on learning English that she lost a lot of her Spanish. Now, she writes her books in English and can't even understand some of the words used in the Spanish translation of her book. I can't imagine what it must be like to look up words that you wrote in a dictionary in a language that you speak. They are her words, and she doesn't even know them. However, there is some explanation. Many people who are fluent in their mother tongue but a schooled in another know how to speak the language colloquially but do not know the spelling or grammar or very intellectual words in their mother tongue. They learned the language from hearing and speaking, not reading or writing. I have multiple friends in my Spanish class who are fluent speakers but struggle with grammar and spelling, which they attest to the colloquial manner in which they learned Spanish.
I think this concept is very interesting because it is one that I have heard little about but probably affects many, many people. This week I talked with my friend Maaso (a freshman at Poly), who's mother tongue is Spanish. He explained to me that he has lost a lot of his Spanish because he doesn't practice it any more. He and his family were so focused on learning and adopting English and the American culture that they lost part of their past. Now that he is in high school, he is redoubling his efforts to recover his Spanish.
I understand that this reflection has less to do with Reyna's actual words or stories, but this seemed to be the theme of her presentation, and it certainly had a huge impact on my perspective toward learning a new language and a small detail of what immigrating to a new country must be like. I am so thankful that Reyna came to speak with us last week, and I admire the courage and openness with which she recounted her story and life. Thanks for everything, Reyna!
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