Language -- a cultural gift

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Mary E. Miksell
  • 319th Operations Support Squadron
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. (AFPN) --  The ability to speak another language can be beneficial not only for one’s career options but also for life. Parents who speak more than one language often pass on their bilingual capabilities to their children.

Children are better equipped to learn another language than adults, yet some parents feel reluctant or just do not realize the potential of having bilingual children. My parents, for instance, are fluent in English and Spanish. However, I was not raised in a Spanish-speaking home.

Growing up with the last name "Perez" and the features of a born and bred Hispanic has led to the assumption that I speak Spanish. I was raised in a small town 10 minutes from the U.S.-Mexican border in South Texas. Everywhere in the Rio Grande Valley, people can be heard speaking Spanish. At first it did not seem like a big deal to be unable to speak Spanish since all our schools taught in English, with a few classes reserved solely for Spanish-speaking children. Since my brothers, sisters and I did not go anywhere without my mother, the need to understand Spanish was nil as she was our translator.

It wasn’t until I was in my teens that the effects of not being bilingual set in. Whether my friends and I went to football games, the movies or just to the mall, people would speak to me in Spanish.

Most of my friends, like me, had bilingual parents, but their parents taught them Spanish at home. So I had translators around me, yet I could not help but feel a little left out and a little ashamed.

After high school, I felt better knowing I would be leaving the Valley and not continue to get frowns when I told people I did not speak Spanish, which had began to annoy me.

Why should I have to speak Spanish just because I look Hispanic? Because of that sentiment, I chose to study Russian in college. Yet it did not matter where I moved, people still looked at me and assumed I spoke Spanish.

Many times in my life I had to pass up opportunities because I am not bilingual. Finding a job in high school seemed difficult since many of the businesses wanted bilingual employees to better handle customer service. In college the opportunity to escort and “house” student nationals usually went to those who were either taking the same language course or were already fluent in their language.

Even in the Air Force there are opportunities, like becoming an attaché or a foreign area officer, where the knowledge of another language or culture would come in handy and, in some cases, be required.

The ability to grow by expanding language capabilities and seeing beyond one’s own culture is rewarding.

Parents who have the ability to teach to their children another language or culture give them a true gift. Such a gift can be passed on for generations.