As a half Hispanic girl who was born and raised in the United States, I can say with full confidence that I have struggled with my ties to my Latin heritage. Despite visiting my father’s home country several times, staying connected with my extended family and eating traditional dishes, I still lack the one characteristic that is most defining for someone in the Latin community: speaking the language.
Addressing the Problem
Although my dad is a native Spanish speaker, I have yet to develop fluency and be able to converse freely with anyone in another language besides English. Growing up with a good amount of other Hispanic friends who could rapidly switch between English, Spanish and more, only exposed my lack of linguistic diversity. Even though we had every other thing in common regarding our culture, the fact that I was consistently forced to respond with “no entiendo” (I don’t understand) isolated me vastly from everyone else.
I couldn’t help but feel awkwardly situated in between peers that lacked cultural ties and those who I felt were more cultured than me. For most people I encountered, Spanish and English was dually taught to them by their parents since birth. However, during my childhood, my father happened to work rough hours and lacked the time and ability to pass on such skills to me. No matter how many times I blamed him, as I still jokingly do, it wouldn’t change the fact that I felt a major sense of disconnect to the community I align with the most.
Attempt to Strengthen Culture
From a fairly young age, I set intentions on one day reaching full proficiency in the Spanish language. Unfortunately, for a young girl who only ever knew one language, knowing where to start that journey didn’t come easily. Throughout my developmental years in middle and high school, my understanding and application of Spanish improved by a decent amount. I learned new grammar rules when I could and picked up on vocabulary terms by trying to be around Spanish speakers more often. Still, I struggled with comprehension and remained pretty far from achieving the goals I had set.
With this, I knew I still longed for a closer relationship with the Hispanic community and tried to expand my cultural knowledge in any way I could. I thought, surely there’s no way anyone can deny my ties to my culture now. But no matter what I did, there was always a scenario where my lack of understanding left me in the dust. Any time I was with a group of native Spanish speakers, I automatically felt left out of the community I wanted to be closest to. I felt like I was almost disrespecting my ancestral roots. Was there more I could be doing?
Steps for Progress
If you’re anything like me, you know the pains I am describing. Luckily enough, throughout my experiences, I have identified things that have helped me immensely, as I am still figuring out my place in the community. Above all, the most important thing is to never stop embracing your heritage, even the simple things. Continue immersing yourself in cultural aspects like music, food, media, television and communicate where and when you can. While celebrating these small wins are crucial, it is even more imperative to not be too hard on yourself just because of a language barrier. Obstacles in everyday life are difficult enough struggles without you being your biggest critic. There are plenty of ways to stay connected to Latin culture and heritage even if you don’t speak the language.
Unfortunately, while I know this to be true, I also know exactly what it’s like to miss an inside joke between family and friends. As a college student with a busy schedule and a lot going on, time is limited. However, I have started treating learning the language like it’s another one of my classes or extracurriculars. By giving myself the time to prioritize learning Spanish, I make it a priority so that I can see progress every day. Learning a new language isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight. It takes consistency, hard work and practice. Something that has helped me a lot is finding others that are in the same position as me so we can learn together and smile over our little improvements. Keeping a small notebook, downloading an app or talking with Spanish speaking friends are just a few of the many ways to continue progressing on the road to fluency. With full dedication, I know it is more than possible for me to become fluent in a few years to attain the goal I have always had in mind. Although speaking fluently is what often makes us believe we can be fully accepted in the Hispanic community, it’s important to note there is a community in itself of people who are facing the same realities as us.