How I Learned to Speak English....

When I was a small child my mom came to the realization that I did not speak English.  I was about 4.  Age 5 was right around the corner and so was kindergarten.  I was going to leave my mother's constant supervision and go to school for the first time.

Who know how this crossed my mother's mind, but she realized that we only spoke Spanish at home.  All our family friends spoke Spanish.  All we spoke, was Spanish.  However, in school, they spoke English.

Keep in mind, it was the 70s.  Latinos were relatively new to Boston.  And this was YEARS before bilingual education.  My mother knew that no one at school spoke Spanish and that I would be left to fend for myself.

Knowing how quickly children learn languages, she decided to put me into "day care" twice a week.  Hopefully, hanging around with American kids would help me pick up the language so I would not be completely helpless at school.  I always thought it was funny that my mom thought I had to hang around with American kids, I was born here, wouldn't that make me American too?  But I digress.....

My mom searches high and low for a day care where at least one person spoke Spanish... in case of an emergency.  She found a day care down the street where one of the teachers took 4 years of high school Spanish....basically the equivalent of nothing.  But beggars can't be chooser and she signed me up.

It was my first day and I didn't know anyone.  None of my regular friends were there.  The teacher comes up to me and says something in Spanish.  She's met with a very confused look from a 4 year old.  She repeats what she says...another confused response.  She tries a third time.  I just sighed and said "Why don't you just speak to me in English....your Spanish is horrible."

A few hours later, my mom comes to pick me up.  The teacher lets her know that I speak perfect English.  My mom is absolutely floored and says "Why didn't you tell me?!?"  To which I respond, "You didn't ask!"  (Yes, I was a smart-ass from the very beginning!)

After my mom collected herself from the shock of not knowing her only child secretly spoke more than one language, she asked me how I learned it. 

Sesame Street.  The Electric Company.  3-2-1 Contact.  Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.  Zoom.

I learned English by watching PBS.  Grover could count to 10 in Spanish, as far as I was concerned, he was bilingual.  And thanks to PBS, WGBH (the Boston PBS affiliate - incidentally where I work now), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Viewers Like You...now so was I.

Pubic Television..... It's a good thing.

Wear a sweater on March 20!

OK people!  Mark your calendars!  March 20th is National Mr. Rogers Day and I will be wearing a cardigan sweater in honor of Mr. Rogers, who will have turned 80 on that day.  Since I work in Children's Programming, everyone I work with will be breaking out the sweaters. 

Some of you may know this, some of you may not, but I work for the show Arthur which airs on PBS.  Mr. Rogers was one of the pioneers in my field.  He believed children could learn through television.  Which believe it or not, that is how I learned to speak English.  He believed that television could be used to expand our horizons.  So do I.  So on March 20th, I will walk out of my house wearing a Cardigan sweater and some canvas sneakers.

So here is some trivia about our neighbor...Mr. Rogers:

• Fred Rogers was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1963
• In May 2003 asteroid number 26858 was named 'Misterrogers' after him.
• When he was mad, Mr. Rogers sometimes played the piano and got his feelings out through his fingers.
• Mr. Rogers owned 25 sweaters which he wore over the years of the program.
• His cardigan sweaters were mostly made by his mother.
• Mr. Rogers was color blind
• When Mr. Rogers was young, he loved to ride the trolleys in Pittsburgh; that's why there is a trolley on his program.

You Know You're Latino If.....

OK, I saw Youtube clips of "Habla y Habla" on Ms. Apples blog and I had to participate in the Latino love fest!  I'd also like to point out that I have actually managed to sneak in a Mango into the country through customs! (see number 34) Fear me, I'm a rebel.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE LATINO IF......

1. You have ever been spanked with chancletas.
2. You have later been spanked with la correa.
3. You know your mom is sneaking up on you because you can hear her
chancletas on the linoleum floor.
4. Your mother yells at the top of her lungs to call you to dinner and you only live in a one bedroom apartment.
5. You can get to your house blindfolded by the smell of the chuletas.
6. You light a candle the night of the Lotto drawing.
7. You get scared whenever someone mentions el cuuuuuco.
8. You have gone to Titi's house and passed through the beaded curtain in
the living room.
9. You step into a house that has all those little figurines taking up every inch of space on the TV and under the TV you have a porcelain cat, dog, Buddha or elephant in your living room.
10. You have plastic slipcovers on your sofas.
11. You swear a malta is the drink of kings.
12. You have a perpetually drunk uncle.
13. You're still afraid to open that umbrella in your house.
14. You know at least one person in your family named Maria, Angel, Carlos, Papo, Juan, Jose, Tony, Tito or Luis.
15. You know Don Francisco from Sabado Gigante.
16. You always try to find out what town another fellow Hispanic's family is from. (Even though you have no idea where that town could possibly be)
17. You call: rug - carpeta, typing - taipiar, parking - parkear,
stress-estress, library - libreria instead of biblioteca, or to
knock-knockiar.
18. All cereals are "Con Fleys".
19. You need a cup of coffee after every meal.
20. Your sister has more mustache hair than your father.
21. One of your aunts or mom weighs over 300 pounds.
22. Your cousins are delinquents.
23. You think Cristina beats Oprah any day.
24. Your uncle owns more gold than a jewelry shop.
25. You have your country's flag hanging from your rear view mirror.
26. Your mom made you put lettuce under your bed the night before Three King's Day so that the camels had something to eat and they leave you a gift in return.
27. Your family never lets you forget the day you missed Mother's Day.
28. You need to point out how much something you just bought cost.
29. You can dance cumbias and salsa without music.
30. You go to at least 3 weddings a year.
31. You dread those boring stays with family in the -campo-.
32. You refuse to use El Diario for anything else but reading. (Except maybe as the only proper way of wrapping fish)
33. You just can't imagine anyone not liking Spanish food.
34. You've tried to bring a mango back to the US from Latin America. (bonus points if you actually made it all the way home with it.)
35. You have sat in a two-passenger car with over seven people in it.
36. You have a bottle of Bacardi in your house right now.
37. You have a picture of "Jesucristo" in your house.
38. You have at least TWO statues of saints in your house (and a bonus point if one of them is Santa Barbara).
39. You're an adult and you're still forced to be with your family at 12 midnight every New Years Eve.
40. You think your name begins like this: "Ave Maria purisima".
41. You walk around saying "chacho" or "chacha" or "ay bendito".
42. You do that funny-pointing thing with your nose, and if the other person doesn't understand you, you use your lips for emphasis.
43. You can speak with your face: for example: twitch your nose like a rabbit to ask What do you want?
44. You drive a Cheby (Chevy) or an Ohmobeel (Oldsmobile).
45. You call all sneakers "tenis" shoes.
46. Your car has fifteen speakers in it and you fix it every weekend.
47. Your mother has put a balled up piece of thread on your baby cousin's
forehead to stop her hiccups.
48. You have at least thirty cousins.
49. You have told your kids not to walk the floor barefoot or they'll catch a cold.
50. You're 50 years old and your mother and father are still called Mami y
Papi
......And last, but not least ?
51. You start clapping every time your plane lands on the runway.

addendum:

52. You get on the internet "para googlear" something
53. There is a "pilon" (mortar & pestle) in the kitchen.

This Gave Me Chills!

I voted this morning.  I was completely torn about who to vote for.  I made my choice and hoped that I had made the right one. I saw this video today and it gave me chills.  So I thought I'd share it with all of you today, Super Tuesday

Lets Give Credit Where Credit is Due....

I'm a big believer in giving everyone their fair share.  This may not be a popular point of view for some of you.  But we need to stop and give our thanks to George W. Bush for the work he has done for this nation.

Thank you Mr. President, if you hadn't completely screwed up our country, we as a nation wouldn't be taking this presidential election as seriously as we are.

For the first time, in a long time, people are paying serious attention to who is running for office.  More people of color are voting than ever before.  More young people are voting than they have in a LOOONG time.  People are really taking notice of the candidates, their platforms, the issues, and what it could mean for them.

So thank you Mr. President.  Thank you for plunging us into debt.  What's another couple trillion dollars?  Thank you for sending us to war under false pretenses.  I rather enjoyed seeing my niece go off to Iraq...TWICE.  Thank you for making us completely addicted to foreign oil.  All my money was just sitting in a bank account, not doing anything.  Now I get to spend every last cent on gas!  Thank you for helping us disregard the importance of our environment.  My grandchildren didn't need to see a real polarbear...pictures of them after they are extinct will be just fine.  Thanks for making it easy for companies to send our jobs overseas.  Job security is soooo yesterday!  Thank you for not rebuilding New Orleans.  It's ok that you've forgotten about one of the most unique cities in this country.  And don't worry about denying you knew about how Katrina devestated the city, especially after we all saw footage of you being told about the impending hurricane and you doing nothing.  We understand how easily confused you can get.

So we thank you for being a huge screw up and absolute waste of space.  It's the wake up call we all needed to start taking our electoral process more seriously.  Maybe now we can all get back to business.