Interpretations of a Bilingual Life

I was inspired (to post a new blog) and reminded today, through a conversation with another language enthusiast, about how the language(s) an individual speaks influences the manner in which an individual expresses thougths, feelings, and opinions. Also, how culture influences, not only forms of expression, but our sense of idenity. There’s more to come […]

Congratulations! You’ve been accepted for Graduate Study at the University of Texas at Austin, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction. You will soon receive formal notification by mail. When you receive your welcome packet, you will find an acceptance form by which you may accept, decline or defer our offer of admission. I can also take […]

Spanglish is exactly what the word implies; the blending of an English word with a Spanish word (e.g. lockiar, crackio, lonche, magazines, washeteria.) This “pidgen” language is not unique to Mexicans (Mexican-Americans) in Texas. It’s a “dialect”, if you will, that evolves in many countries (e.g Spain & U.S.A) Often times people confuse Spanglish to […]

“Give me the bliss of the ignorant or give me the strength to bear the knowledge.”-Elif Shafak This quote rings true to my heart, mind, and soul the further I delve into the intricacies of bilingual education politics in the United States. It not only describes how education has transformed me personally, but it also […]

Mi experiencia con la cultura latina y con el español comenzó en mi hogar, gracias a que mis padres son de origen mexicano. Crecí y estudie en una cultura dominada por el ingles pero en mi casa siempre se hablo el español. Después de terminar la educación secundaria en California, me traslade a Texas para […]

Though my explorations of bicultural/bilingual education may allude or state quite blatantly general perceptions about Latinos I by no means intend to offend anyone reading my blog. In addition, I consider my comments as mere attempts to better understand why we communicate or hold certain ideals about one another. My main objective is to gain […]

Below you will find my comments on an excerpt from the Business English -Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course I am taking online at http://www.teflonline.org “Culture is not simply the backdrop for international communication; rather language and culture are inextricably interrelated. The choices we make concerning vocabulary, syntactic patterns, text organization, and body […]

I believe the language(s) an individual speaks is strongly related to the identity the individual holds about him or her self. This I have come to realize as I have developed, and continue to do so, my own identity as an ethnic minority in the U.S. Though I did not receive formal “bilingual” education, I […]

Hello World! The following is a response to a series of questions I was asked in one of my certification classes. Surface culture is essentially the cultural norms you can easily identify in a foreign country. Deep culture are the cultural norms not easily detected unless, in fact, you are born and raised in that […]