I’ll admit it. For many years, I was actually really ashamed of being bilingual. Now I know that that's something really funny/dumb to be ashamed of, but it was something I struggled with. In reality, I was ashamed of speaking Spanish because when I was little I was teased about it. Now people don't really tease kids about that but it was true.
When I was with my family, they would criticize me because I wasn't fluent or my pronunciation was horrible. When I was in public, or in school, people would say that I had an accent and would even attempt to imitate it. Young and naive, one day I decided that I never wanted to speak Spanish again. I even went home and told my Mom not to speak to me in Spanish. I was ashamed and I never really admitted it to my parents or my family who all thought I was just going through a phase. Yet that “phase” has really impacted my life and how I perceived it. It’s not really common that people tease people for being bilingual, but it also had to do with racial profiling.
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It was comments such as "Typical Mexican speaking Spanish" or "You speak Spanish? Can you clean and make me tacos too?" I know it may sound absurd but people have actually asked me that. I hated the fact that when I spoke Spanish people's response always included, "...because you're Mexican..." and it would frustrate me. It's sad but at one point I was ashamed of my culture and my race. I would tell people about the Spanish blood that I had just so they wouldn't call me "The Mexican Girl."
The worst part is I grew up and went to a school where Mexicans were actually very abundant, but it was the racial profiling that irked me the most. Now that I am older and wiser than I was, I am very proud to be Mexican but I'm still annoyed that people are inconsiderate and racially profile Latin Americans as one race. Not everyone who speaks Spanish is Mexican, loves tacos and burritos, etc. etc. and not everyone who is Mexican has to speak Spanish, know how to clean or cook, etc. In fact, to this day racially profiling people is one of my biggest pet peeves. Put yourself in other Latin Americans' shoes. An Argentinian or Guatemalan don't want to be called Mexican just because they know Spanish. As surprising as this may be to some, Mexicans aren't the only ones who speak Spanish. There are several other countries and one language should not racially categorize them. It's like saying every Asian has to be Chinese, that's not true.
It was not until the day I decided to take a Spanish class and learned that several Spanish-speaking children had decided to take my approach as well and now can't speak Spanish at all. They completely lost that ability and now can't pass it on to future generations and can't communicate with their relatives. I also learned that less and less people are bilingual (even if they have Spanish speaking parents) and even fewer can read and write it. In fact, the ability to read, write, speak, and understand Spanish made me a part of a privileged minority that I never knew existed.
For years I made something that was actually a privilege into something that I was ashamed of. It was for this reason that I even decided to make it one of my Majors. In fact, there are many pros in being bilingual. Some which include more job opportunities, being able to travel, having higher levels of cognitive brain function, being more adept at solving problems, planning, and other "mentally" demanding task. It also has been proven to help lower risk of Alzheimer's disease, etc. Now I am not sure if you even felt like I did but if you speak another language you should really feel honored because in reality, not many people are bilingual, let alone multilingual. I've even decided to learn German and Chinese and although I am not yet completely fluent I know that I am opening the door to several opportunities that are yet to come. So learn a new language or two or perfect the second language you know and trust me you will not regret it.
