Dear reader,

In my Language and Literacy Narrative, my audience is my instructor and classmates. I tailored my language and rhetorical choices by utilizing simpler vocabulary with imagery to help set the scene for my readers. By not using complex language, I can easily appeal to an audience of diverse language experience and writing abilities, so they can also connect to my experiences. By using descriptive language, I can help my audience better understand my experience and story while reflecting on a similar experience they may have had. To help the reader better understand the full message of my story, I ensured that I provided context for both before and after my main experience in the story. I also incorporated a balance of both storytelling and analysis to share what I learned through each step of my experience and how it impacted me moving forward. 

Overall, the writing and literacy narrative helped me reflect on all the ways language has impacted my life. I not only thought about how it impacted me in the past few years, but even when I was in elementary school, language has helped me grow and learn. While reflecting on my own experiences, I have also heard from my peers about their experiences with language. Writing this piece also helped me learn that language builds upon itself. When I first learned Spanish, I was only around 9 years old, and as I continued to learn Spanish throughout high school, I still meet people who speak Spanish to me to this day. Overall, I learned that language and literacy isnt limited to learning how to speak and write in a language, but they connect to the experiences and interactions we have with people every day. 

Audience and argument have greatly impacted my learning and writing practices. Audience ensures that I change the style and formality of my writing to better connect with my intended readers. Additionally, an argument allows me to have a main goal and viewpoint in my writing, which I stick with throughout my essay. When I have a main argument in my writing, I ensure that I have context and evidence to support my argument, further providing additional details. 

Overall, this Language and Literacy Narrative helped me not only tell a story but also share how my experience continued to impact me throughout my life. This assignment was a very reflective piece that helped me think deeper about my experiences while also connecting them to and learning from my peers’ experiences as well.

Sincerely,

Noor Syar 

¿Hablas Español?

“¿Tú hablas español? ‘Do you speak Spanish?’ ” I heard a stranger say as we both waited for the 78 bus. I looked around initially, puzzled, wondering if someone was talking to me, and as I looked to my left, there was an older man with a thick grey-streaked mustache. Behind him, the paved road shimmered from the rain, and we both stood, sheltered from the rain at the bus stop in the ferry terminal. He repeated himself, to which I replied. “No hablo español. ‘No, I don’t speak Spanish?’ ” The wait for the bus started to feel awkward, as I constantly refreshed the app on my phone to check the bus timings, pretending to be busy. Minutes passed until I turned around and said to the man. “Lo siento. Si! Yo hablo español, pero hablo un poco de español.” I started to quickly apologize and explain to this stranger that I only speak very little Spanish. 

(78 bus stop at Saint George Station in Staten Island)

Although I didn’t say that I have been learning Spanish for 4 years, I was embarrassed that I sounded like a robot as I spoke. His face lit up with joy, and a smile started to spread on his face as he introduced himself as Orlando. The conversation continued as he started asking my name and where I was from. I noticed he started incorporating some English words into his Spanish sentences to help me understand better, since it was clear that I was struggling to understand his fast-paced sentences. Our forty-minute wait for the bus, which often feels like hours to me, flew by in minutes as Orlando helped me learn new words and correct my Spanish grammar as I corrected his English. As we got on the bus, we continued to talk, and he told me about his journey into the country, while occasionally using Google Translate to help me understand complex words. As my time to get off the bus came, I said bye to Orlando and never saw him again since that day. 

My interaction with Orlando reminded me of the beginning of my Spanish journey when I was learning the language for the sole reason of just wanting to learn. Little did I know that I would use what i learned years later towards someone who actually needed it. In 4th grade, everyone in my class was told to choose an elective class, ranging from slime making to theater. I chose Spanish. When I first joined the class at 9 years old, the teacher told us to go around the room and share why we joined this class. One girl stated her family all spoke Spanish, so she wanted to learn it too; another said they were taking a trip to Mexico. And then it was my turn. Thoughts ran through my head as I wondered if wanting to learn a new language was a good enough reason. 

Back then, I never realized that learning a new language would become more than a requirement for school in the future, but it would help me communicate with others while understanding their perspectives. I never took a Spanish class until freshman year of high school. However, this was drastically different from the class I took 5 years ago, where we only learned basic conversation starters like “¿Cómo te llamas?” How are you? On the first day of high school, I was sent into a pool of doubt when we started learning grammar and pronouns. I felt as if I was reading hieroglyphics. As the years continued, I started to hold longer conversations in Spanish, which helped me when I first met Orlando. 

Spanish class taught me that what I learn in the classroom extends beyond the classroom into experiences like mine with Orlando. I never expected that Spanish would even go past that and into the loud and chaotic basement where my robotics club was. In robotics, as a newer member, I initially struggled with understanding complex jargon in robotics, but I never thought about how people just learning English in these fields would feel. Until I met Maria and Nicolas. Two of my now close friends, who, like Orlando, recently moved to this country, and their passion for robotics is like no other. 

(Photo from our robotics club table at club rush)

Maria and Nicolas were siblings who I had never met before, but the first day they came to robotics, they started trying to explain to me what they wanted to do in the future. Nicolas explained it as computer work, which I thought was an office job, as he struggled to explain his passion in a mix of Spanish and English. I quickly assured him that I understand some Spanish. As weeks of robotics passed, I told him about how I’ve been learning Spanish for years, and a smile similar to Orlando’s appeared on his face. 

Over time, I realized learning a new language isn’t about having perfect grammar and speaking fluently, but it’s about the relationships I make with people. Although I never saw him again, the connections I made with Orlando about his journey coming to the US, and the connections I made with Maria and Nicolas about their passion for engineering, wouldn’t have been possible without Spanish. These moments reminded me that language politics isn’t only about formal speaking and grammar, but it’s about sharing ideas and thoughts with others. Although language barriers may exist between diverse groups of people, causing a sense of division, as a society, we must connect through our shared words and imperfect conversations.