Hola todos, soy Alejlu y les quiero contar una historia….

My story begins in a first grade classroom. I’m not going to ask you to close your eyes - because you have to read – so just picture it.

Lincoln Elementary School - Mrs. King’s Class – 1st grade. The door was wood, the walls were light blue and green trees were painted near the windows. The posters had pictures of animals and short words: DOG-APPLE-TREE. The little desks were grouped in four and there was a bathroom between our classroom and the next. The carpet wasn’t as colorful as the one in kinder, but it went along with the nature/tree theme. I was ecstatic! My pigtails swung back and forth as I skipped into class. I even had pencils on my dress -three embroidered near my left shoulder: red, blue and yellow. I was pretty tall for my age and  little chubby- pero bien linda.

I loved school from the moment I stepped onto that multicolored carpet in kindergarten. (That will be a key sign in future events) I could draw butterflies like no other; I could run faster than some of the boys; I could even sing in harmony with the music teacher’s piano; but I couldn’t always say what I wanted to say.   Mi ingles todavía no era de lo mejor – tenía acento y no podía pronunciar algunas palabras correctamente. A veces me daba pena hablar – pero solo a veces.

I had learned English by watching Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street -along with what my mom had taught me. I still had problems pronouncing certain words – like “ASK“; and at times, knew the word in Spanish, but couldn’t remember it in English. It was frustrating when I wanted to communicate a certain idea – I knew exactly what I wanted to say in Spanish – pero las palabras en mi cerebro se quedaban estancadas. That’s what it felt like – clogged – my words were clogged!  

And then, I found nourishment: food that could help with my vocabulary problem. I began munching on  stories by  Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, and Judy Blume. I pictured Sam-I-Am offering me the green eggs and ham. I cried when the tree offered itself as a chair to sit on. I laughed when in Tales of the Forth Grade Nothing, the dog was named Turtle… and I began to speak more fluently in English. Mi español seguia fuerte, por que ese era el idioma que se hablaba en mi casa y sin saber, I was becoming…bum..bum…bumm..BILINGUAL.