When I hear “I am my language,” it makes me think about how you represent yourself. How it can be so much more than just a way to communicate with other people. The quote is said with so much pride, it can show that you are very glad to come where you come from. I can relate to this quote in a way, I am a Dominican American young adult and at home, I grew up speaking Spanish a bit of English. At home whenever we spoke Spanish it was always with so much pride and excitement, it made me feel good about my Spanish descent and how I hold the Dominican culture close to my heart. This is also due to the fact that I lived in the Dominican Republic for about four years when I was about eleven years old and stayed until I was fifteen years old. I embraced the culture so much that sometimes when I speak Spanish or even English with other people they get confused. This is because there is a bit of Dominican slang or even a bit of a Dominican accent in the sentence. Now some people would not really like that because it makes them feel left out or that I am not speaking proper Spanish or English and a quote that from the story that relates to that can be where Gloria Anzaldúa’s mother said that she was “mortified that I spoke English like a Mexican.”

I would say that communication is very important, it helps one understand where someone is coming from and how different they are from you. I believe Cultural Diversity is something very nice to have, it shows us the different cultures and how to maybe even be part of them, and recognize and their ways. Now one phrase that I enjoy saying in Spanish would be ” KLK” which honestly is Dominican slang that means “what’s up.” It’s so simple but yet you can use it in so many ways or sentences. If you wanna catch a Dominican that is one way to catch them or tell if someone is Dominican. Now that’s one word I would use a lot around my friends or family, it always brings us more together I would say and it is unique to us pretty much. I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world, but I would really like to learn new languages and cultures too, It’s great to learn more about other people and their cultures.