As a child, I grew up speaking only Spanish until I got to elementary school. I began to learn English around the age of 4. Now, I speak both English and Spanish, as well as American Sign Language (ASL). I use both English and ASL at school (Spanish sometimes if it’s necessary). At home I use English to communicate with my siblings and Spanish with my parents. At work I use all languages but it’s mostly English. I do think I have an accent because I’ve had many people tell me that I do. I, myself don’t realize it and I actually try to listen to myself talk to see if it’s really true but it just sounds normal to me. Being multilingual is something beneficial that can have a positive impact on people. It has personally been beneficial to me for the simple fact that I’m able to understand others and others are able to understand me when speaking languages other than English. There’s nothing better than being able to help others when they’re not able to understand a certain language.

When it comes to communication I feel like I’m a mess. I don’t know how people understand me sometimes. My first language is English and I grew up in a Dominican home so we spoke Spanish most of the time. I wasn’t aware of  an accent when I spoke Spanish until my early twenties when I was told I sound Puerto Rican. I would put a face and say,” Na, I’m Dominican.” Give me a drink and throw on some bachata,you wouldn’t mistake it. I didn’t even realize I spoke really fast (Dominican stereotype) until high school.Guess I would get nervous or something. Sometimes I get kind of eager or excited and my voice even changes a bit; been told I sound like a cartoon character. I grew up in Bushwick before it was gentrified, so sometimes I’d speak with, let’s call it a little sass . My Spanish speaking has gotten better and I’m still learning new words so I can translate when needed to. Like at work, I can use my formal Spanish/English dialect and then that mumbling that’s my normal dialect where people just smile and pretend they know what I said.

Dominating two languages is an amazing skill especially it's more than two languages. I speak two languages fluently Spanish and English, but i’m currently learning two more languages Korean and Chinese. I got an interest in learning languages since I was young, I would hear different languages and I liked hearing whether it was outside, in TV or at school. The first language I got interested was Korean, just because it was different something that I have not heard before so I decided to learn Korean I started out learning by myself and I went into college taking classes and from there I decided to take Chinese to try it out, and from what I have experienced Korean is more easier than Chinese  One thing that I have noticed so far during these years is that I often forget some Spanish and English word but I clearly remember in a different language. There is a disadvantage when forgetting Spanish, I can’t help my parents when they need an interpreter so I decided to see Spanish TV and I speak a lot of Spanish at home only unless i'm with Spanish speaking friends.In school I speak mainly English but also Korean for my class. When speaking Spanish I do have a different way of speaking I speak formal and informal I would say I have an accent with English the most in the morning especially if I finished talking Spanish to someone, but when it comes to  Korean and Chinese I definitely think I have an accent I hear myself very robotic. That is a basic way of putting my knowledge of my languages. 

My name is Malique Mitchell and I have been a Liberal Arts student at LaGaurdia for 2 years. My linguistic background goes only as far as a basic new yorker accent. When I was younger I lived in St.Croix where I had an accent but that was 15 years ago.  Now I have no accent nor do I speak another language.

As a kid, the first language I ever learned was Spanish. My parents only spoke Spanish back then so it was the only language I knew of at the time. It was when I started preschool that I was first exposed to English.  As a child, picking up the language was pretty easy. I found myself speaking English to my friends and brother which made up the majority of the time. I listened to music in English, I watched cartoons in English, I read books in English, and before I knew it almost everything I did was in English. Only with my parents and when their friends or extended family came over was I required to speak Spanish. 

Dont get me wrong, I dont think I could ever forget Spanish and no matter what it will always be a part of me, but because I dont speak it so often ive noticed that when I do its become a bit harder to communicate well with it. I often find it hard to express what im trying to say, and feel that even though I can hold a conversation, I cant seem to truly get out what im trying to say.

Recently I got a job that from time to time requires me to speak Spanish to customers. It’s there that I get to practice my Spanish. I’ve also recently made a friend who’s main language is Spanish and mainly speaks to me in Spanish although he also speaks English. I often find myself responding in English but  I’m doing my best to stop that, and trying to challenge myself into communicating in solely Spanish.

  As for dialects, I believe that I speak multiple ones. Some in English, some in Spanish. But honestly I don’t know if I’d categorize it as a dialect but more as my way of speaking and expressing myself through language.