Lately I feel as if using Spanish  in our home is like another person. I still haven’t decided if this person is a man or a woman. Sometimes I feel like its a moody, always complaining chick. Other times I imagine Spanish is a stubborn man, just sitting there, not saying a word. Many times, thankfully, Spanish is a fun and loving child making her way in our home. As I have mentioned before, and as the title of my blog clearly states, I have an obsession with interpreting my bilingual life. Many times I find myself literally observing, interpreting and reporting (on this blog and my conversations with people) about bilingualism. I’ve learned that the more I make it a point to use Spanish or expose our lives to Spanish intentionally the more material I have to write about. So, off I go…to continue reporting about bilingualism and trilingualism. I’ve started a list of blog postings I have in mind. Finding the time to write and post them is an ongoing challenge… as they say in French…C’est la vie.

As I typed out the title of this posting I could not help but form a smirk on my face. Here’s the deal. The further I delve into the work of identity construction in my doctoral program, the more I realize that individuals take on multiple identities depending on the context they are in and multiple other elements that come into play. Even in the previous sentence I wrote there are several words I would have to define to explain exactly what I mean about identity construction and how it happens to possibly relate to living a trilingual life. Herein lies my dilemmas as a bloguera/academic writer:  almost everything that makes up academia has made me question the most general observation or statement about language acquisition.

I guess what I am trying to explain is that no matter how I attempt to shape our lives so that Sabrina learns three languages, she will always be negotiating multiple identities, just as we all do. What’s amazing is that many of us don’t even realize that we do this. At least I didn’t prior to studying the concept of identity. Sure I was conscious of the way I acted differently with family, friends, or colleagues, but if we were all aware of the little nuances that influence how we think, what we say, essentially who we are at a particular point of time, we would realize that learning multiple languages is not black and white. This is part of the reason I always question any language program, whether it’s for kids or adults.

Speaking of language programs, now that my bebita is 7-months-old, I have learned that most of her language learning is probably going to occur at home until she enters kindergarten since the “day care” settings I would like her to participate in are mostly for children who are there full-time or nearly full-time. I learned that there is what they call a “mothers day out” and then there are “day care” settings, both of which have a different ambience. If there is a “mothers day out” with a Spanish or French immersion component, then I have not found it. That being said, my new plan is to continue exposing her to Spanish at home and create a time during the week to listen to French. Somehow, I have a feeling that I will constantly be adjusting our little plan as she gets older and as our lives change.

I realize that this posting seems all over the map, but ever since I had a baby I feel like my mind, my writing, and my life  is all over the map. So, readers please bear with me as I work through motherhood. In fact, there are times when I ask myself, “Wouldn’t my life be a lot easier if I just spoke in English all the time?” When I start to think about language and how I want to expose my daughter to it as she grows I start to consider everything that is tied to acquiring multiple languages. I guess this is one of the reasons I am pursuing a PhD. I guess it only makes sense that I question and consider the multiple elements ties to learning languages. It’s times like these that remind me of one of my favorite quotes, “Give me the bliss of the ignorant or give me the strength to bear the knowledge.”

We are somewhat settling into life with an infant and have managed to figure out how to write again.

Can you tell I went blog posting happy? Check out my most recent three postings! I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Saludos

The more I learn about language, linguistics, and identity, the more I realize how little I know about multilingualism. In fact, as I reflect on my postings I almost feel silly for writing some of the topics I wrote about. I realize how little and how far I have to go before I can speak intelligently about many of these areas.With all of the above considered I have also realized how the majority of society can judge others by the way they speak. It happens very often! I have to stop and ask myself what are the other aspects of life, that I know very little about, where I may be doing the same thing without even realizing it.

Since I have made the deliberate decision to raise a trilingual baby so many realizations have surfaced especially as I near the end of my pregnancy. The first being that “I” made the decision. Sure, my husband is on board, but he’s definitely a wild card on this journey. So, as a result what did I do, aside from creating a tentative plan? I did what researchers do best: research about trilingualism and parenting. I want to know as much as I can about raising a trilingual baby before I invest my life, time, and energy in creating a fun and multilingual home.

There are two influential factors that I was not aware of prior to making this commitment. They include: community demographics and the effect of the role each parent plays in raising bilingual or trilingual children. That being said, my tiny, tentative, and well-intentioned plan has been slightly modified. The goal is still trilingualism, but the route there will certainly be… tumultuous is the only word that comes to mind. It’ll be many things, but I certainly think we will be challenged.

According to, Suzanne Barron-Hauwaert’s article, Issues Surrounding Trilingual Families: Children with simultaneous exposure to three languages, children acquire three languages in three stages. They go through a monolingual, to a bilingual, and to finally a trilingual stage. Usually children learn the caregivers language from 0-2 years of age (being monolinguals), then they “catch-up” to the second parents language which is considered the bilingual stage which is during the preschool years, and finally at the school age children acquire the third language. This descriptions applies to a child who has been exposed to three languages simultaneously, which will probably not be our case as initially planned because I also learned that most individuals are not FULLY trilingual. In other words, one language is usually considered the weaker of the three due to community demographics and the fact that children pick up on on which language is the minority or the majority language, which usually also includes one of them being the more “prestigious” language. You can probably guess which one of these take precedence.

As I have been reading, Growing up with Three Languages, I have also learned that your community’s demographics plays a huge role in helping parents determine which trilingual path is best for you. We live in a nearly bilingual community in central Texas. In addition, the book mentions that most trilinguals don’t fully know how to speak, read, and write all three languages unless they have parents who are both native speakers of different languages and they are living in a country where an additional language is spoken, but then again the parents level of education plays a factor in terms of being fully trilingual. Another scenario includes both parents speaking different languages while living in a country where one of their languages is spoken and the child attending a school where they can learn a third language. All of this information made me feel naive. My husband and I naturally speak English, though we consider ourselves fluent in Spanish. I grew up hearing Spanish and English simultaneously and he had the awesome opportunity of living in Colombia, Switzerland, and having a ton of family in Ecuador. We decided that we would speak Spanish at home and have our baby girl attend a bilingual Spanish-English school. We opted for introducing French from the time she is born, but will probably not enroll her in a French immersion school because we think it is important for her to learn, love, and appreciate the Spanish we our passing on to her. In other words, since one of the three languages will take on a weaker role in terms of proficiency, we would much rather have it be French. That being said, she will be what they call a “late trilingual.” One suggestion we have been given is to immerse her in French schools during the summer breaks in a French-speaking country while exposing her to it the best we can the rest of the year.

Wow…I wrote this a few months ago…before our baby was born…it was an unfinished posting, but feel as if I should leave just as it is to represent how our journey and plan will continue to evolve as our lives with an infant unravel day to day, week by week….wish us luck!

I’ve been thinking about this notion of a Chicano identity a lot lately for several reasons. The first and foremost is because I have a baby girl and have started noticing how our interactions with her are going to help form her identity. As I have heard family, friends, or strangers say things like, “Oh, she’s a gemeni? Watch out!” or “What a pretty little baby” I started to think about how she may internalize (as she gets older) what people call her, what she see’s via the media, or even the conversations her family chooses to discuss. All of these experiences will shape her personhood.

I am proud to call myself numerous “labels” such as: Latina, Hispanic, mexicana, American, Mexican-American, Hermana, woman of color, or Chicana. I recognize the history behind every term and embrace each one because they have each played a role in my formation.

When I think about the experiences I have had that have shaped who I am and how I identify with those labels I start to wonder IF my daughter will see herself as Chicana? I should point out that though I identify with each term there are some that resonate with me more than others such as Chicana and Mexican-American. Part of being Chicana means that you identify with the term Mexican-American and have shared experiences with other individuals whose parents may have been first generation Mexican immigrants, for example.

My baby girl has a different history than mine. She has a Chicana mother (both my parents are from Northern Mexico), a father whose father is from Ecuador (with Spanish and Portuguese ancestors) and whose mother is of German descent, born and raised in Oklahoma.  Something tells me Sabrina (mi hija) will not embrace a Chicano idenity like I do and have, which is fine, I just hope I can raise her to be proud of her Latino background. In addition, I hope that she will come to recognize and appreciate the efforts her abuelos and bisabuelos made for her to have a better life on the other side of border.

I realized that I haven’t posted anything in 2 months! Yikes. Life is in transition. April was a crazy month with finals and prepping for baby. May was well the same AND now June I am simply nesting for the arrival of our bebita. I hope to add stories and share thoughts sooner than later. I am sure our baby girl will help inspire stories especially as I nurture a trilingual home. Wish us luck!

I am, however, posting for “Spanglish Baby dot com” once a month. Please visit the site. They have a ton of great resources available for parents interested in raising multilingual children. My posts, along with other monthly contributors, can be found under the “about” link.

Saludos!

The more I learn about sociolinguistics the more I realize how the value individuals place, including myself, on certain language varieties over others can seem quite superficial. Let me further explain. When I first moved to Texas I swore that I would NEVER, EVER speak like the natives: Anglo or Hispanic Texans. In my opinion, they spoke a kind of English and Spanish that seemed backwards. As the years went by my perception evolved to a more positive one due to the experiences I had interacting with the locals, but there was always some sort of reservation about their use of Spanish or English.

When I interviewed students in my class, via e-mail, I assumed that they would share similar judgments about the local use of English and Spanish due to their young age and lack of exposure to linguistics. What I learned was that only one out of the five students I interviewed found the local variety of Spanish displeasing. She said, “It often seems very informal, more slang. And it seems that since they live in America that their accents are not as smooth and fluid, but more Americanized.” What I failed to remember is that the majority of my students are from Texas! Interestingly enough, the only student that found the local variety displeasing was not from Texas. In addition, all five students believed that the most commonly used variety of Spanish should be taught in schools. For example, one student said, “…the variety of Spanish that is spoken in the local or nearby neighboring countries should be of upmost interest when trying to teach Spanish in U.S. schools because it is more likely that the students will use their knowledge of Spanish in those nearby areas.” He went on to explain that he plans on becoming a doctor and living in Houston, so learning Mexican Spanish would be most useful to him in order to communicate with his patients.

In Ronald Wardhaughs’ book, An Introduction to Sociolinguistics, he states that even though there is a geographic distribution in terms of language varieties we must, “…also attempt to relate that distribution to the historical development of the language, both internally, i.e., linguistically, and externally, i.e., politically, socially, and culturally (p. 139).” In other words, in order to understand they ways and reasons why language(s) evolve we must also know how various facets of life influence those changes. This is why I think my initial perceptions about Texas Spanish and English were so superficial, and quite frankly, ignorant on my part.

All of the students I interviewed have grown up as monolingual speakers. There was one who grew up hearing an African dialect, but did not consider himself as bilingual. I started to wonder how “fully” bilingual or trilingual individuals would respond to the questions. I decided to interview a trilingual friend. He grew up speaking French and Spanish simultaneously and feels 100 % comfortable speaking both languages. He also speaks English, but learned it as “second” language. At any rate, when I asked him, what variety of Spanish or French do you find sounds/words/grammar most pleasing? He replied with, “No son palabras y sonidos. Es una cultura que va con ellas.” In other words, the reason he prefers Spanish from southern Spain or French from the south of France is because he strongly identifies with the culture. I proceeded to ask him, “Do you think you take on different identities when you speak Spanish, French, or English?” His reply was, “Cuando me sienta comodo en ingles sera mas facil para tener la misma personalidad.” He continued to explain that he maintained the same identity/personality, through and through, when he spoke French or Spanish because he feels completely comfortable speaking those two languages.

In comparison to the students’ responses when I asked, “What variety of English do you find most pleasing?” Their answers did have to do with the sounds a particular English variety emphasized. Students’ replies included:

Student A: I find the British accent to be the most pleasing of the varieties. I think it sounds very classical.
Student B: I find the British variety extremely appealing. It sounds so intelligent and sophisticated. It has a certain fluidity and softness about it.

Student C: Although I find Australian English to be highly entertaining. I prefer American slang. Hollywood rules the world.
Student D: British English is very charming to hear and the pronunciation of certain words makes the English language far more intriguing.
Student E: I find the slower, Southern US accent more pleasing than a faster northern one. Despite the common popularity of the British accent, I find it in no way superior to any other.

I think it’s interesting to note that not a single student referenced American as pleasing because they identified to the culture as did the trilingual friend I interviewed when he mentioned why he found a certain French or Spanish variety more pleasing. We can slightly infer that student c and student e may be commenting on their preference to American English because they feel a connection to the culture, but it is not stated directly.

As I mentioned earlier, society as whole, places values on certain language varieties, which in turn, influences our preferences in terms of which language variety is more pleasing. Wardhaugh reminds us that, “Value judgments of this kind sometimes emerge for reasons that are hard to explain (p. 52).” It’s true! I am less and less confused about the reservations I have had with the Spanish and English varieties I hear in Texas the more I learn about how languages and speech communities or communities of practice fit into variationist studies of language.  That being said, I think it is difficult to fully explain why I have subconsciously changed my Spanish accent or the use of certain Spanish vocabulary when I speak Spanish. Wardhaugh also explains how, “Sometimes those notions of ‘better’ or ‘worse’ solidify into those of ‘correctness’ and ‘incorrectness’ (p.53).” Maybe this is why several students preferred British English to American English.

As I continue to explore language varieties I hope to also better understand how an individuals identity evolves when s/he speaks more than one language or dialect of a language. In addition, I’d like to further explore how the political, social, and cultural climate of a community can change language, and in turn, affect how people respond to local varieties.

To learn more about bilingualism & trilingualism follow me on twitter (trilingualbaby). You can also read a monthly post (first one today: 3/5/10) about my attempts to create a trilingual home at www.spanglishbaby.com This website has a plethora of information about raising bilingual and trilingual children. I think many readers will enjoy it as much as I have.

I never really thought much about whether or not having a teacher you could ethnically or culturally identify with made a difference in terms of interest or motivation in subject matter. Probably because I didn’t have a Latino teacher until I went to community college! In fact, this wonderful professor influenced me so much that I decided to major in English Literature because of my experience in two of his classes.

When I started community college I had this intense motivation to do well in school. I started high school with the same enthusiasm, but it slowly dwindled as my classes became more and more tracked ones. The track I was on included students who worked; at the time I had three jobs. I’m sure they tracked us based on test scores and other criteria blah blah blah, it’s not right in my opinion. These classes pretty much consisted of students doing umm nothing. Seriously, in one of my English classes half the class would sleep while the teacher spoke about nothing. One day I decided to ask him, “Mr. Monotone, why do you keep “lecturing” when half the class is asleep?” His response: “Well because I know most of you work and all you want to do is graduate.” I was speechless. He refused to teach or attempt to engage us because he had already decided our intentions AND our future in a way.

Several of my classes from science, math, to English were set up like the one above.

I can still remember my first day of community college. I’ll never forget it. I arrived on campus about an hour before my first class began and opened up my math textbook. It was pre-algebra. A very basic pre-algebra like they probably shouldn’t have named it pre-algebra. At any rate, I sat there, staring at my book with the intention that I was going to make it! To make a long story short I ended up getting a “D” in that class and had to make it up.

The following semester I enrolled in another course that was also required: English 101 with a Mr. Garcia. I purposely picked his class because we shared the same last name and it was a required course, so I thought, “Perfect, I’ll just take the course with him.” As it turned out we were born in the same city, Brownsville, TX and he attended the same highschool as my parents. Even at that time I had no idea that having a professor with a similar background as me would make a difference, but it did. He not only loved teaching writing, he loved to write and share stories. He got me interested in writing. The following semester I decided to take another required  course taught by him, but this time we were studying literature, in addition to writing. If it weren’t for my experience with him I probably would not have pursued a B.A. in English Literature when I transferred to the University of Texas at Austin (UT). In fact, I ended up taking a course with his uncle!!! The only reason I learned that they were related was because they were sharing similar stories in class. I had to ask Dr. Hinojosa-Smith if he was related to a Mr. Garcia. They were to my surprise!!

This blog posting may seem as if I were talking about just any other professor who cared about his students and in many ways I am, BUT I whole heartedly believe that he caught my attention, my interest in English Literature because we are both Chicano, which means the stories he shared resonated with my Mexican-American background. In fact, current research states that when children can identify, ethnically or racially, with a teacher; they are more engaged/interested in the subject matter.

The last time I communicated with him I was asking for a letter of recommendation for a Masters program I was applying to and letting him know I was also recently engages. At the end of the conversation he said, “Make sure you let me know when you get your PhD or have a baby whichever comes first.” If only he knew that I’m working on both, as I write this post, but that the baby will most definitely come first.

Thank you, Mr. Garcia!