Por favor, stop the Spanglish anguish - Teen who gave up chance to learn Spanish as a child doesn’t want others to share regret

“Two languages. Un problema. Should young students learn Spanish and English inside the classroom? Or should they just be taught in English, and wait until they are older and less apt to pick up another language? I am going to be a junior in high school, and, frankly, or francamente if you will, I wish there had been a dual-language program when I was in elementary school.

I was raised by a Hispanic nanny, Susan, whom I loved dearly. She would always speak to me in Spanish during my days as a chica pequeña, and, in fact, my first word was gato But low and behold, I started going to pre-K, where everyone spoke only English. And then, so did I. I wanted Susan to speak to me in the language that all of my playmates would converse with me in, and so she did. To this day, that is one of the biggest regrets I have. Why? Because, had I learned Spanish when I was little, I would be fluent by now instead of having to reteach myself the Spanish that would have come so easily to me earlier on.”

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