Growing Up Bilingual

I was spending my usual Friday nights in my room watching Netflix and eating ice cream when I heard something on Jane The Virgin that made me think. Jane, the main character, who has a baby, named Mateo, was worried about his speech development. She noticed he was not saying anything besides the typical “mamma” and “dada,” and the other kids in her Mommy and Me playgroup knew up to 30 words, and some could form sentences. Jane went to Mateo’s doctor who told her not to worry about this yet. The doctor then asked if he was exposed to other languages because Jane is Latina. She informed her that he was, she speaks Spanish around him, and her grandma only speaks Spanish. The doctor reassured her that it is normal for babies in a bilingual home to develop speech at a later time than babies in non-bilingual homes.

Then a day or so after, I was reading my textbook for a class and I read that same exact fact, which then was repeated by my professor in class. At that moment I realized that I grew up in a bilingual home; I never thought anything about this before.

My parents are both from Italy and, growing up, they would speak Italian and English to me, although my mom primarily speaks Italian around the house. My dad also speaks Italian around the house, but usually to me, he speaks English. I do not speak Italian fluently, but I can force a sentence or two out when I feel like it. My siblings are better Italian speakers than me, but I can fully understand when someone talks to me in Italian.

Over my 19 years of life, I noticed that my family does some things that others do not. There are some perks of growing up bilingual, besides the obvious of knowing another language and connecting with more people. However, there are some downsides.

Travel

So having your parents be from a different country has a perk, most likely you will get to go to that country! Since my parents are both from Italy, a lot of their family lives there. They wanted to take us there because it would be a fun trip, and we met a lot of extended family there that we probably would have never met before. Whatever the reason is, whether your parents want to see their cousins or they want you to meet them, they will take you there.

Your Friend's New Icon

I have noticed that whenever my friends meet my mom they say that she is “so cute!” My mom always speaks Italian at home as I said, and she’ll say something to me in Italian and I usually answer back in English and my friends think it’s the coolest thing ever. When she leaves they ask me, “did you understand her?” Of course, I understood her! Then they usually ask me if she will teach them Italian.

Using Interchangeable Words

This is neither a positive or negative thing, but when I am talking, there are some words I usually just say in Italian. For example, if I eat cereal I have to go to the frigorifero (refrigerator) to get the latte (milk). Also, I always drive my macchina (car) to scuola (school) and I always bring my borsa (bag/backpack). Those are just some Italian words I use instead of the English word.

The Downside

The one thing that I hate is when one of us will say a word (for me in English and my mom Italian) that the other doesn’t know or understand. Then I have to explain what “slay” means or what I mean when I say “lit.” This also works in reverse and there are times I don’t know what she means. Also correcting each other's grammar.