Froggy About Teaching

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time for recognizing and celebrating your Hispanic students. Honoring and allowing them to take pride in the histories, cultures, and language of those students whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America is a great way to build up these kids.

Two Languages

I was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. Through my grandmothers, I am a second generation American. Through my grandfathers, I am a third generation American.

Growing up, I was referred to as a Hispanic, which I resented because “Hispanic” implied that I was from a Spanish speaking country. So, I called myself an American of Mexican descent or Mexican American.

Spanish was my first language. Even though my parents and grandparents taught us to love and appreciate speaking Spanish and English, it was difficult to remain being bilingual when at school we were expected to perform academically in English like the monolingual English speakers. All of this swayed my siblings and I to relinquish our first language, Spanish. My parents didn’t fight it because they expected us to excel in school. English quickly became our dominant language. I felt the conflict of not speaking fluent Spanish.

Two Cultures

Yes, we celebrated the American holidays. We saluted the American flag, celebrated Independence Day, and ate turkey for Thanksgiving recognizing the early American settlers and giving thanks for our bounty.

We also celebrated Mexico’s Independence, Dia de Los Muertos, and other holidays. We did this with Mexican music, food, and traditions. I loved the traditions that we had. For some reason I didn’t experience the same conflict with the traditions as I did the languages.

Cultural Pride

I take pride in being a Latina. I am an American of Mexican descent. I speak English and Spanish, I celebrate both cultures, I eat tacos and hamburgers. It took me many years to claim my culture and heritage.

ESL Students

Many our students learning English as a second language have all gone through some degree of this language loss. It is our job as their teacher to recognize this and help them appreciate who they are and to encourage them to maintain their home language. If you want to learn more about Hispanic Heritage Month, Hstory does a good job explaining the how it came to be.

Thank you for taking the time to read this blogpost. If you are Latino, I hope you have pride in your heritage. If you are a teacher, I hope you recognize and affirm your Latino students. Debbie – Froggy About Teaching