Location: Federal Way Public Library
Time: 5-7
Date: 2/25/2015
We were all in the same room again, and the kids were mostly
doing homework and reading. We couldn’t do a craft anyway. Brad and I played with
the infant and her older sister since wifi was down. Other kids left to play in
the children’s area.
At storytime the boys from last week were there and ready to listen, but the girl was not. Instead,
she was quietly reading out loud to herself from a book. When we moved to a
different area to read, I asked if she just didn’t like the story. She said she
didn’t want to listen, because she didn’t understand Spanish. And yet, she
replied to the librarian,“sí, comprendo español.” I’ve also seen her
interact with her mother almost exclusively in Spanish. Questioning her on
this, she said that she didn’t fully understand it and it was dumb. I only said
Spanish isn’t dumb, and dropped it.
This is an interesting moment for me, because I didn’t know
how to respond. How do I create a space where I only speak English, but support
and emphasize the children’s Spanish and Latino identities, as a wonderful part of them,
not anything to be ashamed of?
Thank you for sharing Klarissa, I think these are very good questions and ones that are important for people working with children to understand. It sounds like the young person is caught between cultures (and languages) for that matter and the world outside of the home (which you are both part of) is navigated in English therefore when she is outside, prefers English and Spanish is the language of the home. As a young person I encountered a similar tension growing up, but am glad that I was encouraged to pursue and practice Spanish because there were things that I could not communicate if I had not.
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