1 Peralta My Roots I am a mixture. Three cultures have impacted me in life.

The first one is my place of origin I was born and raised in Charlotte !orth Carolina a small town that rapidly grew into the wonderful metropolitan area it is today adding in people of all different cultures and bac"grounds this is due to the large amounts of people which have moved here from other areas whether it is as close as #outh Carolina or as far as Russia the people choose to come here to Charlotte. The second culture to impact my life is my mother$s #alvadorian heritage I grew up in a single parent home. I lived with my mother and siblings and my grandparents were always there to help my mother whenever she needed someone to watch my sisters and I. I grew up in a mainly #alvadorian household that had experienced a big change from the typical #alvadorian experience it was that there grandchildren were half Mexican as well as being half #alvadorian my grandparents respected this fact and wanted my sisters and I to become aware of the two beautiful cultures that we came from. In their home we would listen to stories about their homeland %l #alvador and watch videos of %l #alvador that my grandfather$s mother would bring with her every time she flew in from %l #alvador to visit her children that lived in &merica. I learned about some of my roots through my grandparents and along with that I heard their language when I was in their home my grandparents spea" a more proper #panish with my siblings and I but when guest came over and they were also #alvadorian they code switched from the more proper #panish to what they call '%spa(ol del Rancho) the literal translation would be #panish from the farm or ranch but they mean #panish from their homeland. In their home there have been many times where I have to as" my grandparents what they mean when they use certain words or phrases an example of this would be the term '*inado) this term was not one I

+ Peralta heard in their daily speech with us according to them this term is used once someone dies as a title and out of respect once someone has passed away. My #alvadorian culture helped frame my language. !ot only has my #alvadorian culture impacted my life but also my Mexican culture. %ven though I did not grow up with my father he still had an influence in my life. My mother and father continued to be business partners and I still interacted with him. My father taught me proper #panish as well but he would also use words I did not understand. My father used these words when I was around him and other Mexicans or family. Through these interactions I learned to always watch my language for a Mexican you would call a bottle a 'Pacha) yet for a #alvadorian a bottle is called a 'Mamila) the word 'Mamila) is seen as an insult in the Mexican community. I learned this because one day when I was younger I told my dad my sister wanted a 'Mamila) he ,uic"ly corrected me and told me that the correct word when I was around Mexicans was 'Pacha) is was because 'Mamila) was a rude word that only disrespectful people would use. That was -ust one example of the many times my cultures clashed. #ometimes it was over something of no importance but I was taught both ways -ust so I would "now how to interact between both of the communities I belong to an example of this would be the word straw in the Mexican community it is referred to as a 'Popote) while in the #alvadorian community it is 'Pa-ia) simple things li"e these have morphed me into the person I am. I am a part of three cultures that will never change but it will always change me. !othing in my life is ordinary this includes my speech and writing abilities. .hen it comes to my speech much of it was formed as a child learning how to pronounce words in the home of a #alvadorian mother and Mexican father. I learned to spea" both languages through them and as I learned I pic"ed up their accents/ !ot only did they teach me to different forms of #panish but

0 Peralta they also taught me %nglish. &s a child when my parents were not wor"ing I was able to watch television which surprisingly is how I believe I was ready for the %nglish spea"ing community. Through different children$s programs that would play on P#1 I was able to learn my numbers letters and basic s"ills I would use later on in life. I now spea" two languages fluently I can spea" different forms of each language and there for due to continuous practice I was able to become a master in code switching a vital tool to survive in a white collar world while not interrupting communication with the ma-ority of society. 2indergarten through Middle school an %xperience In my time in school I was able to spea" %nglish and learn its rules and regulations. I also learned that there were different types of %nglish. The schools I attended before college had a ma-ority &frican &merican population I heard the %bonics and the country accents all throughout my time in CM# Charlotte3Mec"lenburg3#chools I heard and learned the languages that surrounded me. %bonics were different to me because my whole life up to that point I had been taught that %nglish was more of a professional language. I didn$t "now it had different forms -ust li"e the #panish language. 4ue to the many experiences that I experienced in school I also ended up learning %bonics through the people that were around me. I was able to relate to the article that demonstrated that it is simple to learn the ideal way of going between different forms of languages. Code switching was something that I always that I always did. It came naturally but that was in #panish. 5nce I was in school I reali6ed that I had language insecurity. I was insecure about a language I "new because "now I was not spea"ing it with people that also spo"e #panish or people that "new I had to languages. I was now spea"ing a language which my peers grew up

7 Peralta with and I was afraid. I thought I would be -udged because I spo"e in a different way. My %nglish was not bad it -ust sounded a bit odd and as a child the views of your peers can matter and even hurt you emotionally. I had to learn and brea" through it I could not continue to be a shy ,uiet person. That shy ,uiet person was not who I grew up as it was as if I was lying to myself by refusing to express my opinion and views. I bro"e through it it too" time and effort but I reali6ed that if I never did it then there was the possibility that there would be others li"e me. .ho would stand up for them and their rights8 .ho would provide the others that did not "now how to express themselves an ability to express their meaning8 It was important for me to ta"e a stand and spea" even if I thought I would be -udged by others. !ow I "now why I did it since I was a child main goal was always to help people now I "now for a fact that I want to help people in my life. I learned through it all that I want to be that voice others could have I want to help others express their opinions and beliefs. I want to help others stand up. That is how I learned that I want to be a lawyer. I want to help others with my ability to spea" and write. Processing 9anguage *inding my language has always been something that have found hard to do. I always "new that language was distinct for me because I am bilingual. 4uring my sophomore year of high school it hit me I did not "now myself as well as others and that was because I was confused about my language. In my &P human geography class my professor Mr.:atton mentioned something that I found odd he said that the language that we thin" in is our natural language and that people thin" in one language. That language being their natural language their first language. I don;t believe that I have a first language or a second I have two languages that I spea". &s a child I spo"e both #panish and %nglish with my family I didn$t grow up only

< Peralta "nowing one until I learned the other they were both taught to me by my family. 4ue to the fact that my family forms who I am and how I spea" it isn$t surprising that they helped me learn how I thin". I thin" in two different languages. I always have. It isn$t something I have to thin" about. Thin"ing in this way hasn$t affected me academically thus far but that day in class it did ma"e me reali6e I don$t have one natural language I have two. The ability to thin" in this manner made me stand out even with some of the international students because most of them did have -ust one language they thought in because for a portion of their lives they were only introduced to one language and they did not find the other language to be their natural language. I can understand this because I too" 0 years of *rench classes and to this day when I thin" about how to say a phrase I thin" about it in %nglish. I do not thin" about it in *rench. If I am within a population whose language I understand and spea" I change my language as I thought based on my mood and the environment. .ho am I8 &fter writing this I reali6e that I am a teenager that still has so much to learn about the way I spea" and how it will continue to affect me. It can affect me in many ways and I hope that they are positive ones that enable to get a -ob because I spea" two languages not ones that defer me from being able to win a case because racism was part of my -ury during a trial. #adly I "now this is very common and it is bound to happen but with more people li"e me in the world I "now that the world can change in to an area that accepts many cultures and languages.