Lessons with Tata
My goal for Spanish this semester is to study how my family was involved in the Chicano Movement, translate my Tata’s short stories, and take Spanish grammar lessons from my Tata to improve my language skills. I have stuck with this plan this quarter like I mentioned I would like to keep my meetings with my mentors consistent and this is one of the areas that I fell behind in. I planned at the beginning of this school year that I would have 2 meetings with my Tata a week and this quarter I fell behind on that sometimes only having one or no meetings a week. The general setup of our sessions is conversation followed by reading I read in Spanish, he reads in Spanish, I read in English, he reads in English, and I ask questions in Spanish. I did try to keep the reading and duolingoing at a constant pace I did not have a schedule but I read every other day from Mas Sabe El Diablo. This quarter we read Ponchado El Verano Del '68, a story about a breakup and a small apartment in Los Angeles. After we finished that story we started reading the story El Paraguas about a frustrated woman who opened her umbrella in a car which turns on her like an evil being.
Duolingo and PodcastsFor the most part in the first semester I did Duolingo every other day and through break and after break I kept at it doing at least 5 minutes everyday to maintain a streak. Starting after the break to El Paso I have also been listening to a variety of different podcasts in Spanish every morning. Because I am not constantly around the language I thought that listening to podcasts would be a good way to expose myself to Spanish more often. I listen to either 1 or 2 on the bus to school and in bed or with tea on the weekends, these podcasts are from 6 to 15 minutes long. I have been listening to Bilingual Podcasts by Duolingo, News In Slow Spanish, and Hoy Hablamos. This had helped me with pronunciation while I read and while I read and while I talk.
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A picture of my Tata when he was younger.
El PasoOver the break I went to El Paso to visit my Mom's side of the family. While I was there I got to speak Spanish with my Tata, eat delicious food, and feel like I was actually at home for a week. I missed the sun, the warm earth, the food and most of all my family, I am happy that I could spend this time with them and that I could recognize how special my culture is.
Abraham Lincoln and MexicoMy Tata recommended that I read the book Abraham Lincoln and Mexico, it is in English because I am reading it for a history intention not an intention to read Spanish that complicated. The book is a history of the Mexican American war from 1846 to 1848. This tells, so far, how the United States President James K. Polk, the 11th president, argues that we should go to war with Mexico but all of his "facts" and arguments for war were for the most part invalid.
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Esayo En Español
Starting in 2018 I started drafting an essay in Spanish because I felt like I wasn't doing enough of that and I had a few things to say that I thought would be better said in Spanish. This essay is about the challenges and benefits of being bicultural and biracial. I will work on this more next semester this semester I just wanted to write it out.