Soy Mariana: A Story of Bilingualism from Venezuela

In English and Spanish

Hi, I’m Mariana.

Learning English has always been an important part of my life. Even though my parents don't speak any English at all, and I was a little girl living in a small town in Venezuela, they put themselves to the task of teaching me that there are many different ways to communicate in the world. They gave me the opportunity to learn and prepare to face the world in the future.

Venezuela is a small country in Latin America, full of color, beaches, mountains, and wonderful people. In Venezuela we speak in Spanish with a strong accent using made-up words and at a high speed of 10 words per second. It's a beautiful language, but I always knew there was more to learn.

Since I was very little, my parents gave great importance to learning English and, together with my older sister, they opened the doors for us to a completely different world of music, games, and movies in English. I noticed that not everyone was the same as me, and so my desire to learn grew more and more.

I entered an English school when I was 15 years old and I became increasingly interested in the language. Fifteen is a very important age in Latin America since we become "Señoritas." I knew that I had a great gift coming and with a lot of effort my parents sent me to California for a month to spend the holidays with some relatives from the United States.

Surrounded by people speaking in the language that I wanted to understand so much, people with different customs, different traditions, but still as human as I am, I felt inspired to continue learning. During those vacations, I practiced and practiced my English and returned with more enthusiasm. That's why I was was able to finish my full English course in two years.

But not everything is always perfect, my Latin roots shine through when I talk, and for a while I was bullied for having a Latin accent when speaking English. People told me that I should quit, that my accent was "too obvious" and that I spoke like a Latina. This affected me and despite not understanding what was wrong with “sounding Latina” I decided not to speak any more in English and just dedicate myself to listening and understanding.

Then I learned that my accent is part of who I am, that continuing to practice and learn was very important, and that I should never feel ashamed of it again. So I kept practicing every day and found the confidence I had when I was younger. I finally realized that even if I have an accent, if I speak with confidence, no one can make me feel bad.

Speaking two languages as important as English and Spanish has had many advantages in my life. For example, the confidence I have in myself increases every day that I practice and communicate with people of other nationalities. I also stimulate my brain every day by talking in both languages, having the ability to understand people who speak another language improves my decision making, and I connect with people whose native language is not Spanish and that allows me to learn about their culture.

I will always be grateful to my parents, for giving me the tools since I was little and opening the doors to endless possibilities that languages bring.

Knowing two languages has opened my eyes to a bigger, multicultural, open, and more united world. Where all dreams are possible and no matter where you are on the planet, there are people who want to listen to you.

Hola, soy Mariana.

El ingles siempre ha sido una parte importante de mi vida, desde que era una niña mis padres a pesar de que no hablan ni un poquito de Ingles, se dieron la tarea de mostrarme que en el mundo hay muchas formas de comunicarse y que aún siendo una niña viviendo en un pequeño pueblo de Venezuela, tendría la oportunidad de aprender y prepararme para afrontar el mundo en el futuro.

Venezuela es un pequeño país de Latinoamérica, lleno de color, playas, montañas y gente maravillosa. En Venezuela hablamos en Español, con un acento marcado, usando palabras sin sentido y a una gran velocidad de 10 palabras por segundo. Es un idioma hermoso, pero desde pequeña supe que había más que aprender.

Mis padres le dieron gran importancia al Ingles desde que estaba muy pequeña y junto con mi hermana mayor (Ya que ellos no saben ingles), me abrieron las puertas a un mundo completamente diferente, música, juegos y películas en Ingles me hicieron notar que no todo el mundo es igual que yo y mis ganas de aprender crecieron cada vez mas.

Entré en una escuela de Ingles desde los 15 años y me interese cada vez más en el idioma. Los 15 son una edad muy importante en Latinoamérica ya que nos convertimos en “Señoritas”, sabia que me tocaba un gran regalo y mis padres con mucho esfuerzo me enviaron un mes a California, a pasar las vacaciones con unos familiares.

Estando allí me sentí inspirada a seguir aprendiendo, rodeada de personas hablando en ese idioma que tanto quería entender, con costumbres distintas, tradiciones distintas, pero aún tan humanos como yo. Durante esas vacaciones practique y practique mi Ingles y regrese con más ganas, así logre en dos años culminar mi curso completo.

No todo siempre es color de rosa, mis raíces latinas salen a flotar y por un tiempo recibí burlas por tener un acento latino al hablar Ingles. Personas me decían que debía renunciar, que mi acento era muy obvio y que hablaba como una latina. Esto me afecto y a pesar de no entender que había de malo con “sonar latina” decidí no hablar más en Ingles y dedicarme solo a escuchar y entender.

Luego aprendí que mi acento es parte de quien soy, que seguir practicando y aprendiendo era muy importante pero que nunca más debía sentir vergüenza de él. Así que continue practicando cada día y encontrando esa confianza que tenía cuando estaba más chica. Finalmente me di cuenta que aunque tenga un acento, si hablo con confianza nadie me podrá hacer sentir mal.

Hablar dos idiomas tan importantes como el Ingles y el Español ha tenido muchas ventajas en mi vida, la confianza que tengo en mi misma aumenta cada día que practico y me comunico con personas de otras nacionalidades, estimulo mi cerebro cada día, tener la capacidad de entender a personas que hablan otro idioma mejora mi toma de decisiones, conecto con personas cuya lengua natal no es el Español y eso me permite aprender de su cultura.

Estaré siempre agradecida con mis padres, por darme las herramientas desde pequeña y abrirme las puertas a un sin fin de posibilidades gracias al idioma.