Language and literacy has showcased concepts that the everyday person tends to overlook. Within my memoir contains that connection to language and how it unveiled a new way to break down the barriers created by language. While it does not revolve around my native language but rather a language learned through the American education system, the lesson remains the same for other experiences that were similar to mine. The reason I chose not base the entire story on my issue with my native language was because I believe that language discrepancies do not always come from first person culture but it can come from learning a language in an educational environment. Not only that but my memoir is uncommon due to the fact that instead of trying to perfect “standard english”, I am attempting to pick up another language while already being strong in “standard english”. 

The audience I am trying to apply this memoir to are those who find themselves always translating such as my first generation peers with immigrant parents. These first generation students always find themselves having to translate for their parents that only want the best for their children. To specify, most of these immigrant parents have one objective when it comes to immigrating into the United States: a better life for their children. This turns into a trend where they believe that their job is to have their child go through the American education system and be successful with their high paying job in the future. Therefore these parents don’t really find themselves trying to pick up the English language, only bits and pieces that get them through the day. Hence the reason as to why their children are their translators due to the fact that they have the general knowledge of both languages. My story takes on this setting but in the form of a student and his teacher. Why a student and a teacher? Teachers/educators are to be treated as mentors, someone who young students learn from. So for a teacher to mentor their student and the student to mentor the teacher, leaves a lot of growth to occur. Despite the growth having a positive denotation the connotation can come off as neutral due to the actions made during the mentoring practice. To be more specific, it turns from positive to neutral because of how the efforts made to learn a language in the standard way leads to this type of vexing confusion. Thus, the audience will resonate with that feeling of frustrating translations, where the translations start to get maddening and tiresome. Finding the solution to that feeling is initially impossible to find but providing that throughout my memoir accomplishes that goal.

Foundations in French

For the first 9 years of my life I lived in the bustling streets of Brooklyn with my nuclear immigrant family along with learning standard English at an extreme level. My Haitian parents urged me to pick up English at a rapid pace and that was what I did. However with that mindset I failed to be strong with the native language; Haitian Creole. Learning the language was not the problem since I did learn common phrases and the language rolled off the tongue easily but for my young mind to be proficient in both languages was not planned to be a simple task. Along with that, I did not pay attention to my inability to tap into my Haitian culture through language, for I saw it as frustrating to learn and a weak point in my success in education. Shortly after my 9th birthday we moved to the middle south part of Long island in a town known as Bay Shore, leaving our home in Brooklyn . Within that windy little town was where I truly understood the concept of language and literacy. 

Years passed by in that suburban town as I enjoyed the beaches along the Shore and the neighboring slim island right below it. When it came to education I was always doing my thing until 7th grade when I was placed in French class and would have to deal with it until 11th grade. I originally fell in love with the language because of how soothing it could be and it was very similar to my native language Haitian Creole. Up until my 11th grade French class called Modern French Culture my perspective on the entire concept of language and literacy altered greatly. My teacher was Madame Boisdon; straight from the mainland, standing at a towering 6’4. Aside from her appearance I was taken aback by her powerful accent and this was the first time my French teacher was actually from France so I assumed the class would take me on quite a ride. And boy it did. 

Madame was beyond fluent in French but her English on the other hand was a bit wonky so the translations along the way were at times not accurate. This made me and many of my peers catch on to this trend so we as a collective decided to give back to our jolly strict giant. While we aided in her translating words correctly we also decided to teach her recent common slang such as “you fire” or “lock in” which in return she would teach us French slang and some “bad” words along the way. At times the class would spend nearly an entire period trying to translate certain English words to French or French to English. This practice that occurred from time to time became frustrating but I realized that it was part of the learning experience so in the end being frustrated at something that would lead to something positive was contradictory. I soon understood that this was something I was meant to apply to the Haitian language, I was meant to apply myself despite my frustrations for the return I would end up having would have been more than what I have now. By June I was extremely confident in the language and was actually able to connect French to Haitian Creole better which allowed me to talk to my cousins, aunts and uncles back in Haiti in a more proficient way. 

Yes, it was difficult to communicate to one another through English and French languages but realizing that it never had to bloom into animosity or frustrated confusion gave a stronger meaning to our practices. While it was a really nice learning experience for the two parties it highlighted the fact that we as a society can sometimes become frustrated and fed up when we have to translate words. However, taking our time allows for us to appreciate and learn from said languages, which in turn the action of translating becomes more of a learning experience for everyone. It was something my parents did back in Brooklyn; they never criticized me for not learning Haitian Creole while becoming strong in English even with my regrets. Realizing that I still have time to learn and understand my Haitian roots through learning the language in newer and different ways alleviates the regrets I once had.