Linguistic Memoir

Your Name Here

Florida International University

History of My Family

My family’s cultural experiences are something that holds a very special place in my

heart. All of my life I have been surrounded by Cuban culture. From my own knowledge, I

thought that all of my family was from Cuba, but I was wrong. Going back several generations,

the majority of my family was born and raised in Cuba however, I have family members from

previous generations who are from other places. Unfortunately, my family is split up into two

since my parents experienced a divorce when I was 6 years old. However, thanks to this

assignment I was allowed to learn so much about my cultural background that I was unaware of

before completing this assignment.

My mom's side of the family dates back to many generations located all around the

world. As I was asking her questions about the history and place of origin of her side of the

family going back several generations she told me that she has family not only from Spain but

also from Brazil. The family from Spain is her grandfather who is from Galicia, Spain and in Sao

Paulo, Brazil is her grandmother who is my great grandmother. As a young girl, she was given

the exposure of a Brazilian and Spanish background which makes a lot of sense. What I mean by

this, is that a lot of people have actually approached her and told her that she does not sound like

she comes from Cuban parents and I now made the connection that her Spanish background

definitely shaped her Spanish speaking skills.

When learning about my dad’s family, his past generations were not only from Cuba but

from Spain and China. My great grandfather’s grandmother was Spanish as well as my great

grandmother and her family were all from Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Islas Canarias. Lastly, my great

grandfather was born in China with the last name Chi. According to my father, his sister, uncle,

and himself were the only ones to receive a degree. The rest of his family ended their education

after graduating high school which in their language is called “secundaria.”

Those who came from a different state or country had an accent then my very own such

has how they pronounce the “r” and how they drop the “s” which is typically only pronounced

when there’s a stressed vowel in the next word. But usually the rest of the time its silent or

aspirated like for an example “Las alas” which means the wings and other like “isla” would be

pronounced like [ila] which sounds like “eyh-lah”. The language is usually used to describe

something that is cool or amazing. The way that we say it in English could be strong, but the

language really derives from the Spanish language Chevere means cold or amazing. Since

some languages in Spanish are made short that is translated into jevi. All Jays in Spanish are

said with the H in English so that language could literally be said like strong. Here exist some

lessons: It is common in the Spanish language to drop the letter “s”. For example, “mosquitos”

becomes “mosquito” and “where are you”, dondé tu esta will be dondé tu ta. Also, some words

in Cuban Spanish are different compared to modern Spanish. For instance, guapo means

handsome in Spanish, but in Cuban Spanish guapo means angry. Moreover, in Havana (the

capital of Cuba), people tend to change the letter “r” to an “l”. For instance, “porque” will

sound like “polque”. However, in the northern part of the country, the letter “r” sounds like an

“i”. Therefore, it will sound like “poique”.

Participant Interviews

This assignment allowed me to learn so much about my past generations and the

interviews granted me the chance to learn more about linguistic differences.

Participant A

In the year 1967 Participant A was born in a private clinic in La Habana, Cuba and was

raised in San Miguel del Padron, Cuba. Thanks to his father who wanted a better life and

opportunities for his family, he was able to come to the United States. After a few years of

making a name for himself, he was able to claim his family. This allowed them to board "El

Mariel" and bring Participant A along with his family to America in 1979. “El Mariel” was a

boat that brought Cubans who sought to leave Cuba after Castro’s takeover out of the Mariel

Harbor to the US in hopes of a better future. As a 12-year-old Cuban, Participant A only spoke

Spanish upon arrival to the United States. The Mariel boat took them to Key West since his

father was able to give him a passport and the rest of his family was taken to a refugee camp. He

was able to attend Kinloch Middle School here in Miami and begin his academic career. Then, to

be reunited with his mother he flew to New Jersey and stayed there for 2 years. Soon after his

entire family came back to Miami and continued their lives there. Participant A began learning

the English language and continued his educational successes in Coral Gables Senior High

School. Once he graduated, he had the option to continue working for his father's trucking

company or go to college and get a degree.

Participant B

Participant B was born and raised in Pinar del Rio, Cuba in 1998. His life took a quick

turn while he was living in Cuba. His family got into some trouble with the federal government

during their implementation of the “Plan Maceta” which led to the confiscation of his

childhood home, his family’s assets and properties, and even his father’s incarceration and

eventual release. This prompted Participant B’s parents to find a way to get visas for

themselves, my brother, and himself. While in Cuba, his parents both went to college; his father

went to medical school and his mother went to nursing school. To enter the United States,

Participant B’s parents needed to get themselves visas so that he and his brother could get visas.

Participant B started learning English when he got to the U.S. He told me that they do teach

English in Cuba, but only once you get to a higher grade. He was in first grade when he left

Cuba at age 7, and never learned English. When I spoke to him about his family, he told me

that his dad’s family is from the Spanish Canary Islands, and his mom’s maternal family is

from France. When learning the English language, he said that he did not find it difficult

because he had constant exposure to English television shows and books, which allowed him to

learn quickly. Once he got to the United Stated he lived with his paternal grandparents and

started school shortly after as a second grader.

Analysis

Comparison of Family Members Experiences

When speaking the English language, Participant A experiences a lot of difficulty with

English grammar and errors in syntax. I noticed that when Participant A has to communicate

with others, he much rather communicates in Spanish because he experiences difficulty

expressing himself and trying to get his message across. I also noticed that Participant A tries to

say some words in Spanish but with an English accent or vice versa, which is something very

common in English learners. For example, in Spanish when you need to print something you say

“imprimir” but since he learned that in English its “printing” he says “printear” with a Spanish

accent. Another example, when he learned to say “I need to park my car” he now says “tengo

que parquear el carro” when the correct word would be “estacionar” in spanish not “parquear.”

Participant A also expressed to me that he communicates in different versions of Spanish and

English depending on his audience which I found very interesting. Another example of a syntax

error is when Participant A is pronouncing the word drawers he suffers great difficulty and it

sounds like he is saying dra-u-ers. During the interview, he even provided me with an example

because at work his co-workers are always making fun of him when he is trying to say the

company's name “Good Year” he pronounces it as if it was “good j-ear.” Participant A’s

linguistic development has clearly developed drastically over the years which he showed to be

very proud of.

On the contrary, when Participant B is speaking the English language, I realized that he

has difficulty when saying homonyms like “chair” and “share” because the two language accents

can cause confusion when annunciating those terms. When Participant B was speaking to me in

Spanish, I did not find any phrases to be difficult for him in Spanish. When I mentioned this to

him, he told me that thankfully he does not experience difficulties since he speaks it at home

regularly and with his family. He is also very thankful that his Spanish has not gone away, if

anything it has gotten better throughout the years due to his constant exposure to it at home

speaking it with his parents, grandparents, and other family members that are not bilingual. He

may speak it fluently, but I realized that he does not have a full mastery of the Spanish

vocabulary. For Participant B English is his language of choice because of the fact that it’s the

language he has full mastery of and speaks it at school, with his friends, and the language

spoken by most people he encounters.

When comparing Participant A and Participant B, they share similar experiences. As

I was conducting my interviews, I realized that when it comes down to syntax, morphology

and pragmatics difficulties or issues I really did not catch on any. In my opinion, Participant

A’s and B’s vocabulary in the English language was very good considering Participant A and

B's educational background and they were both born in Cuba. Participants A and B both

portrayed an accent while speaking the English language. However, as I was conversing with

both Participants, they differed in a lot of things when it came down to their thoughts on

Cuba and culture. For example, Participant A’s thoughts on Cuba is that it is no longer its

country because he suffered a lot and people are still suffering so much. Participant A

wanted to leave Cuba so that “he can be a person, not an animal”. This meant that he desired

to have freedom of speech and opportunity that is considered a right in this country. He

mentioned that he does not miss Cuba. Participant A never went back. It is a communist

country and he suffered a lot, he would also need to pay for a Cuban passport and doing so is

like putting aside his American citizenship. He feels that Cuba does this to humiliate those

who left Cuba for the United States because it is the only place that makes people have a

Cuban passport. Participant A did note that he missed certain aspects of the culture which

included the food, the dances, and the music.

Participant B feels a much stronger attachment to Cuba. He expressed what Cuba meant

to him, which is a beautiful island full of warm, kind-hearted, and hard-working people, all of

whom have been brainwashed and systematically oppressed by a vile and corrupt government.

Another difference between the two is that Participant B did not want to leave Cuba but was not

given much of a choice. He had to either stay and risk constant harassment from the government,

or leave and have a fresh start. Participant B misses his family members who stayed in Cuba,

which includes his maternal family and most of his paternal family. What he misses most is his

maternal grandmother, the person who he spent every weekend with. Participant B told me that

Cubans are known for their colorful culture and internationally renowned cuisine and dance. A

vibrant culture full of music, colorful people, and delicious food. Lastly, Participant B’s favorite

aspects of his culture are the culture’s patriotism and collective identity because to him no

matter where you go, Cubans will proudly identify themselves as Cubans, and the comradery

amongst Cubans is unbeaten.

Sharing Own Experiences

When reflecting back on both participants and their corresponding groups, I do not share

the same experiences. Their experiences and sufferings are things I could never gain as an

American. After completing this project, I feel like I have provided insight into both

participants' worlds and have learned for myself different perspectives from two people born in

Cuba. My experience is very different from both Participant A and B. I was born in Miami, FL

and raised by an amazing group of Cuban Americans who shaped me into the individual I am

today. As I began school, I experienced things very differently than other students who shared

their Cuban background. The only language we communicated in at home was Spanish. At

school, I would find speaking English difficult. When I began going to school the only language

that I spoke was Spanish, so they treated me like someone who just came from a Spanish

speaking country. I was then enrolled in ESOL until I mastered English and passed the Level 5

course. I remember only wanting to speak English because it was so exciting for me to speak a

new language. To this day, I thankfully still speak both languages but unfortunately, my Spanish

is not as strong as it used to be. I do believe that I lost some of my Spanish linguistic abilities

because I was constantly demanded to speak the English language at school. My mom always

tells me that she even sat down with a teacher of mine who told her that she needed to start

speaking English to me at home so that I could learn it and excel faster in school. I speak

Spanish to most of my family like my dad, grandfather, grandmother, aunts, and uncles and I

mainly speak English when I am speaking to my brother, mom, and friends. Thankfully, I am

bilingual in English and Spanish. Some examples of points in my life that defined my language

learning experience were definitely speaking only Spanish at home and taking ESOL classes in

school. My culture, ethnicity, and identity truly did influence the way that I use both the English

and Spanish language because it was what I was surrounded by growing up and what I am still

surrounded by every day. Living in Miami has also been one of my biggest blessings because I

am exposed to a variety of cultures every day. Whether it be at work or at home I feel like I am

constantly learning more about other cultures and even my own.

Taking this course, I was granted the opportunity to learn so much about teaching

English language learners. This class exposed me to a variety of strategies that have helped

shape my future classroom pedagogies and me myself as a future educator. I do believe that this

class taught me so much about English language learners and how I would like to teach my

future students so that they can succeed throughout their educational careers. Taking this course

also taught me that I am willing to do anything and everything for my students who need help

and reinforcement. As a future educator, I see myself creating a great bridge of communication

with my students' parents so that they themselves can also be involved in their child's education.

I want to thank my professor for teaching me what will have a huge impact on my future

students and teaching style.