Binding Languages: ‘American’ Identities and Bilingual Education :: Free Essays Online

Binding Languages American Identities and bilingualist Education The turning points in ones life prison term hang on imprinted in a persons mind like stamps on an envelope. They are always vivid and no matter how long time passes, the smells, noises and emotions felt always remain on our minds. The day I arrived at St. Vincent Ferrer s elementary school, I was only nine years old. iii days earlier, I had stepped off a plane at the Cincinnatis international airport from Italy. My English knowledge was constrained to naming colors and counting up to one hundred. And yet, when I first stepped in my reinvigorated 4th grade class, I felt welcome. Perhaps this was because I was the renewing in the class and all eyes that day remained on me. many stood in awe wondering how and if an Italian female child looked, dressed, or talked other than from an American girl. That day, I was assigned to spend the day with Amanda, a girl with blue eyes and brown hair who seemed to have a content e xpression on her face. It is still amazing to me today that, despite totally not understanding each other, Amanda and I got along. This became evident during recess when she taught me how to do tag, a game not common in my native land, by using gestures to explain the rules. However, this use of gestures could not remain as the persistent mode of communication between us. Soon, the inability to interact with others because of a manner of speaking barrier would impede my social development. This not only meant that I could not grow deep friendships with my peers, but also that I was left alone alone. No one talked to me during lunchtime no one included me in his or her games no one wanted to be my partner in any activity. Furthermore it would also slow down my intellectual expansion. universe unable to understand the meaning of words spoken by my teacher, I could not understand what the lesson was about. This made me incur as if I had doomed my intelligence and my capability o f learning. However, if I had been allowed to speak my own language inside the school system while learning English, perhaps much distressingness and frustration might have been spared.The bewilderment, excitement and sense of fitting in on the first day of classes began and ceased that day. It would take months before I would feel again that I could belong with these people.