Over the past semester, I have gone to local Spanish-immersion classrooms in Swannanoa in order to do community engagement work alongside my pursuit of learning Spanish. Each week, I go to an elementary class at WD Williams Elementary to assist by reading stories in Spanish, helping students put together sentences about the stories, and having conversations in Spanish. Through this, I’ve been able to learn about language acquisition in a unique setting, with young kids that pick up the language quickly and don’t make large distinctions between english and spanish or feel the need to “code-switch.” Other days, I go to Owen Middle School and work with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders that are primarily native Spanish-speakers who are in the class to get assistance with their classes as well as practice their English. We often work on homework and other times we open up the class to games or discussions in English and Spanish. Through this partnership, we have the opportunity to share our languages and learn from one another in a unique way. I’ve learned a lot about working through language barriers in both English and Spanish and how to develop meaningful relationships in this space.
