My parents made the decision to come to this country almost 25 years ago.
They were never ready to face the hardships that came their way once they got to the United States of America.
One of those hardships being the English-Spanish border between them and the rest of the people in the country.
My parents never thought that they would be discriminated because of the fact that they didn't understand a language. When they realized how speaking English was such an advantage in this country, they had one idea in mind: to make sure I spoke it.
I was initially taught Spanish at home and then I slowly began watching television in English (I have Spongebob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer to thank for my impeccable English with no accent after all). Once my parents thought I was speaking too much English, they established a specific border between both: Spanish at home, English at school; no exceptions. This made it difficult to even try to teach them the English language, while also making it easier for them to get me to be their unofficial translator.
I began translating at the age of eight. From doctor's visits to police stations to courts and hospitals, I've translated almost everywhere. From the age of eight, having the responsibility of translating for my family and friends was a burden I was not ready to handle. From the age of eight, knowing that the future depended solely on your ability to translate information into two different languages as quickly as you could was traumatizing and put endless amounts of pressure on me.
You see, being a Spanish-speaker in an English-speaking world isn't all that. You get ridiculed, harassed, and dehumanized all for speaking the language that runs through your blood. Being forced to learn a language that isn't your own just to be able to be accepted by society is dehumanizing.
As a country that calls themselves a melting pot, the United States needs to realize that "speaking American" isn't the best thing for the country's "image." Instead of forcing students into ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, maybe staff should be trained to handle situations with non-English speakers.
Many monolingual people don't take into consideration the thought process that goes behind speaking so many languages. As someone that thinks in Spanish, English, and French, be mindful before you tell someone to speak "American" again, because this girl might be taking your job sooner than you may think, Entiendes, mon ami?
