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Growing up bilingual in the United States
November, 2007
Jose Luis and Griselda Ramirez immigrated to the United States from Mexico at an early age in search for a better opportunity in life. There they worked their way up from laboring in the fields to finding their individual occupations. My parents are my inspiration and motivation.
I was born and raised in the small town of Salinas, California. Though I was born in the United States, I grew in a Mexican Catholic family, learning the traditions and the Spanish language. When I turned 5 years old, I went to a nearby elementary school where I was encouraged to enroll in English-speaking classes. At an early age I was found emerged in an American world where the English language dominated, different from the Mexican world I grew up in. Fortunately, I was able to adapt to the English language and still keep my native language, Spanish.
Though I did not have any bilingual education throughout my first thirteen years in school, I continued to practice my Spanish with my family and friends. I saw the importance of being bilingual, especially in California where there are many people who are Spanish-speaking only because of the high rate of immigration from Mexico. I also saw the importance of being bilingual in the work force.
It wasn't until I started my studies at one of the most rigorous universities in California, Santa Clara University, that I took Spanish grammar and literature classes. For the first time in my life I was receiving an education in my native language. Most of my classmates were "American," trying to learn Spanish as their second language. One of my favorite Spanish professors and well-known author in the United States, Francisco Jimenez, told me that I was an essential resource for my classmates. I was one of the few "minorities" in my classes, and I knew it was my responsibility to educate the "Americans" about the reality and identity of Mexican-Americans in the United States. My unique experience of growing up in a Mexican family and having to integrate into the American culture is the reality of many Mexican-Americans from immigrant parents.
Because of my educated background and identity as a Mexican-American, I found the need of helping immigrant people who have little or no resources. I volunteered through a community service program in Santa Clara University, called the Arrupe Placement Program, where I signed up to help Spanish-speaking young children of immigrant parents in San Jose, California how to read and write in English. I had a good experience volunteering with the kids that I signed up for a second time. This time around, I volunteered to help undocumented Spanish-speaking only adults to look for daily jobs. These undocumented adults had no jobs, yet alone a place of their own to call home. I also helped a volunteer American nurse providing health treatment to these undocumented adults. Through this volunteer experience I saw the extent of how marginalized and alone the undocumented people felt in the United States. Some of the stories these undocumented individuals shared with me about their experiences immigrating to the United States from their native countries were so devastating.
The volunteering I did through the Santa Clara University Arrupe Placement Program motivated me to continue helping the immigrant community in San Jose, California. For this reason I started working as a translator for lawyers in Immigration Law. I translated for Spanish-speaking clients who had many cases dealing with employing rights and U.S. citizenship. Through this part-time job as a translator of a non-profit law organization, I learned some more about the reality of immigrants in the United States.
My identity as an educated bilingual Mexican-American has opened up doors of opportunity for me. My reality has contributed to my development as a well-rounded person capable of understanding the diversity in this world. My experiences have transformed me into an open-minded individual who is able to adapt to different cultural environments. For this reason, I feel comfortable in any country I visit. Now I find myself studying in the beautiful capital of Spain, Madrid. Though it's a different culture and tradition, I feel at home because I can understand the language.
Griselda Denise Ramirez is originally from Salinas, California. She's currently studying abroad in the International Institute in Madrid, Spain. Her majors are Marketing and Spanish. In Topka we believe in bilinguism. See our bilingual books.
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