When I was just starting out grade school, I was placed in an English as a Second Language program. I had gone to a private pre-school for two years fully in English and had absolutely no trouble speaking, listening, and writing in English, so it baffled me that I was placed in the ESL program. The school assumed that because my parents had mentioned that they spoke Urdu with me at home that I would be incapable of navigating grade school without the ESL program. Overall, in this situation my heritage language caused my problems‚ and unfortunately, it gave my school a reason to make assumptions and place me in a program based on minimal information about my language background. At home, when we call family abroad I’m able to speak in Urdu with them. When I was younger, I used to get too nervous to speak in Urdu so I would barely talk with my family outside of the United States. However, over time I’ve gotten a bit more confident in my Urdu-speaking skills and this has allowed me to develop a stronger connection with my family abroad. Knowing my heritage language adds so much value to my life because I am able to maintain connections with my family abroad, and am working to retain cultural and linguistic awareness.
