No Comprendo el Ingls

By Joanna Sanchez

What answer did you get? asked my 2nd grade teacher Ms. Lopez as she
approached me. Not understanding what she was saying I decided to stare at her. She
was tall, with glasses too big for her face, very hippie looking and intimidating. After
about 30 seconds of us observing each other she finally pointed at my paper and said,
you wrote your answer right there, just say it to the class. At that point I felt
embarrassed for not knowing what she was saying to me. It was time to tell her, after all
it was the middle of the 2nd quarter and I was that new student that everyone stared at.
My goal wasnt to get more attention than I was already getting. With a cracking voice I
replied, no se que dices. Instead of yelling at me she just smiled and walked away to
ask another student. For the remaining of the day I watched the clock until it was
2:45pm for I knew that my grandpa would be waiting for me outside to take me home.

How was school mija? Remember to answer in English. You need to get used to
talking in that language, my mom would say. It was mami como se dice que tuve un
bien dia? Id reply. I remember my mom laughing, se dice, my day was good or I had a
good day oh okay, I had a good day you have homework? si pero no le entiendo
ma I know you don't understand but you have to try your best. When you were in
Spanish classes I wouldn't understand your homework after it got so advanced. I
remember sitting in our small dining room patiently waiting, while my mom made phone
calls to all of my aunts asking how to explain certain problems in Spanish. After a few
years of constantly asking, my aunts decided to stop answering the phone. You didnt
have to shove me in an English class with me not knowing English, you know.

My English was terrible my own mother had difficulty understanding me. This was the
daily routine, I would go to school, go home and call my mom at work to assure her I got
home okay, then wait for her to come home to help me with my homework. Day after
day the routine was consistent.

Later on that week some other kids, Andres, Maria, and Magdalena went into that class.
They were having the same problems as myself. I felt relieved to know that I wasnt the

only kid in that class who didnt understand what Whats your name? meant. After that
week, Ms. Lopez decided to start tutoring us to target all of our trouble zones. Ms.
Lopez essentially taught us what we had already learned, she just made us go through
intense tutoring lessons during the day to translate everything into English. I was forced
to learn how to read, write and most importantly understand what I was doing. As the
other kids would read a short story as a class, my friends and I would get into a circle
and take our time to read it. Soon enough my reading level was 1st grade level instead
of what I originally started with which was preschool level. I was able to write full
sentences and communicate better.

Ms. Lopez awarded me as the most improved student in the class. When I first went into
that class, I was very anti-social and embarrassed that I was that Latino kid who didnt
know any English. I wished at times that I knew how to talk perfect English so I could at
least be capable of talking with people without talking louder and saying my words
slower. I guess in my head I believed it would help me get my point across. I even
detested my mom for making me go through so much trouble, but in the end I was very
thankful of her to have pushed me to accomplish something like that. I became bilingual
and capable of translating. If I ask you now what your answer is, will you be able to tell
me? She made me flip back to the worksheet I worked on my very first day and asked
me what my answer was. As it turns out, my answer was something very simple, just
the number 500.