English is My Everything

I never actually learned English it was more forced upon me, everyone around me spoke it. It was all I ever heard so it flowed through me naturally as a child. I began to improve my English when I was around 4; my father began teaching me to read using a program called Hooked on Phonics. Reading helped me learn how to better express myself, better my vocabulary and allowed my knowledge of the language to expand. Some days my father and I would spend countless hours and laughs in the library. Before I had the ability of reading on my own I would make him read aloud to me every book I thought had an interesting cover. When the time came when I no longer needed his assistance I began to fly through books with ease, only stopping to ask for the meaning of words here and there. When I began school I remember others students complaining about the 30 minute homework assignments given. I would happily read that and more on the train ride home. My love for words weren’t limited to the ones on paper because I also loved to talk, so much that at times this love became somewhat of a blessing and a curse. In parent teacher conferences the teachers would always tell my parents the same speech "Lauren is a very bright young girl, but her talking distracts her other classmates from their work sometimes". My parents weren't surprised to say the least.

Although in 3rd grade I encountered my first rode block concerning to language my parents put me in a bilingual school. My mother being Puerto Rican thought I should learn Spanish, but being that my father is African American we lever spoke the language in my home. So I new nothing of this language and was terrified. In this school half of the day was entirely in Spanish, the other half in English. Growing up I always liked to interact with other kids and adults I loved to socialize, I could make a friend in no time with my jokes and stories. In class I was used to participating and I was never shy to give my opinion. But here amongst words I couldn’t read nor understand I felt completely alone, I couldn't express myself the way I could before. Kids around me spoke the language fluently and I for the first time felt the power language could have. Over the years at this school I began to understand Spanish. I would be able to understand when people would talk to me, by translating it in my head to English and with little delay I could reply. But I would only reply, and even to this day in English. For some reason I never felt the comfort English gave me with Spanish. It just wasn't the same, it didn't feel natural. I couldn’t connect to the foreign language, I spoke English with my family and friends, maybe not the most politically correct English but it was my English just the same.

English is who I am, I think in English, I speak in English, I read in English, I watch T.V in English, I listen to music in English, I express myself in English. I believe if I didn't have English I wouldn't b the person I am today.