I learned English when I was 9 years old, and was enrolled in Bilingual courses in elementary school up to fourth grade, while the rest of my cousins were enrolled in full English classes. It did make me feel left out and it did limit my circle of friends in elementary school to kids that I was able to communicate with. However, my “choices” of friends was expanded in high school and college, and I think, partly, because it gave us something special that we identified with. I enjoyed knowing how to read, write, speak, and understand Spanish, it almost made me feel superior to those students who only spoke English. It was more admirable to be bilingual in high school and college. I received a lot of praise from my family for being bilingual and being able to communicate quite well, with a less noticeable accent than my cousins. We were depended upon at home to translate legal documents, even when our knowledge of legal verbiage was limited. I was able to create more relationships with older people at church, which felt kind of special. I have had better job opportunities by being bilingual.
