Being a bilingual person is, I would say, a pretty cool thing.
Learning English was a tough task for me, but in the end I feel like it is one of the best things that has happened to me. A major part of me being bilingual is how I use it to my advantage. Helping others is one thing I enjoy doing. I am a person who likes to help in any way possible.
As a child I only saw English as a way to help me communicate with the rest of the world. As I got older though, knowing English became a whole different story for me. One thing I have done since I was young was translate for my parents. It first began with ordering food at sonic, asking where something was at a store and calling anyone who did not speak Spanish.
I did not mind helping my parents, because I knew that without my help they had no one else to turn to. Later, this whole translating thing moved up a level I might say. I started translating business letters, writing checks for bills and making business calls which was a bit intimidating.
I also had other family members ask for my help. There were times when I had to stop doing my homework or whatever I was doing to go somewhere with them. This is where translating started to become hard. I never felt more frustrated then when I did not know how to say or translate something for someone.
Translating is not as easy as people think it is. They assume that just because I speak both English and Spanish I know everything in both languages. Well sorry to say but I don’t, and I am not going to lie. There have been many times where I wished I only spoke one language, then I remind myself that I should be thankful for being able to speak two languages.
I have helped my family a lot, even though there have been times where I am just like “again.” My mom always reminds me that I need to take full advantage of it, because she is not able to live life as simple as me. Also, I have been able to help other students that are in the position I was in when I arrived here to the United States.
Not being able to communicate with others is a horrible feeling. While here at the college, I am proud to say I have practiced my translating skills a lot. I help my friend David Cruz, who is from Venezuela with his homework by helping him translate his homework to Spanish so he can understand it better, that way he is able to make better grades.
Helping others is also a good feeling. When a stranger thanks me for helping them, and tell me they do not know what they would have done if I would not have helped them. I just let them know that it is my pleasure to help them because I know how it feels to be on the other side.