Let’s start with the basics. The United States has people from all over the world, and in my opinion this is what makes it great. One out of ten people living in the US can’t speak English fluently. Why? Most people who can’t speak English are either newly immigrants or first generation. But my focus today is the parents of the first generation. They can’t speak the language because they never learned it in their home country and they never had the time to learn it when they came to the US.
My first language isn’t English, and my mom doesn’t speak fluent English. At first, I used to really get embarrassed by having to translate everything to her but after a while I didn’t only get used to it but I understood that she sometimes was embarrassed by herself. Which made me think that she shouldn’t.
No one and nothing should let my mom feel uncomfortable because she doesn’t speak the language. I got mad at her couple of times because she wasn’t dedicating herself to learn English. But when I looked closely I saw that all she did was work, work, work, cook and care for us. Her time was filled by the end of the day and she had no energy left.
One of the things that breaks my heart is when my brother and I speak English, she shows us that she is upset when she’s actually sad because she feels like she can’t be a part of our conversation. A conversation that two of the kids she raised are having.
We don’t translate for our parents because we have to or because they force us to. We can honestly translate something the wrong way and leave it at that. But we translate for them because we understand how hard it is for them. We do it because they sacrificed so much for us. My mom came to this country for us to be happy, safe, and get a better education. She left her family, career, and past for us. So, I translate for her because that is the least I can do.
Even though my mom is taking English courses now, I’d be more than happy to translate everything to her for the rest of my life.
