growing up with language

Arenio Jordan                                                                  9/10/2011

                          

                          GROWING UP WITH LANGUAGE

                                 

                      My relationship with language began when I was very young.

Before I was able to form words as a baby I would mimic the sounds I heard. I can recall going to the zoo on many occasions and standing by the water listening and watching the dolphins communicate with each other. It was fascinating to me to see one speak and the other respond with the exact same sound. Of course most of my childhood memories of language would be within the walls of my own residence. I can still remember waking up early in the morning to the sound of my mother singing over her records of rhythm and blues. I would nod my head singing with her only reciting the words I memorized from the last time I heard it.

                                Dialogue also played a big role in my relationship to language especially growing up in the city of New York.  Within my home you could hear many different forms of the English language from the proper use of annunciation to the slang I picked up from outside of home. Of course the use of street Ebonics was not allowed inside but me being an adolescent you could always catch me and my cousins along with my peers speaking the “lingo” amongst ourselves many of times. Lots of people would argue that because of my African-American heritage the street slang that I spoke with my peers was already embedded in me when I was born. A very foolish observation of my black community and very false if I may add.

                                Growing up in the city even within the ghettos of Jamaica queens you would always find diversity. In my neighborhood I did not just have black friends but Spanish and Guyanese as well. By just hanging out with them I learned many terms as they did with me as well. Words like “Whack” which meant not cool could be spoken from our lips as well as words such ass “Pendejo” which is Spanish slang for idiot or dummy. I could humor you and say we were all multilingual in a sense but in all reality the only language we spoke fluently was English. Although in school I dropped the slang and spoke as proper as anybody else would. It was not a problem to me because at home my mother kept a library of books ranging from wordy Thesauruses and Encyclopedias to genres of adventure and horror. I would sit and read for hours during my down times.

           With the knowledge I had already acquired and the early teachings from my mother I knew how to talk according to the different people I met and the area that surrounded me.

                                         The same rules and principles would apply to me when going on job interviews. I had already seen many people make the mistake of speaking to an employer as they would do to a friend and you can bet that they received the dreadful words “we’ll call you” meaning you did not get the job. I already knew to speak clear and proper during anything educational or business wise. I have always felt that the key to being successful in life is the ability to wear many hats and still manage to be you in the end. I pride myself in those very words and apply it to my daily life.

                                          Because of my relationship with language it helped me to express myself creatively. Around the age of 14 I was writing my own short stories and eventually I found myself caught up in the likes of poetry.  I found myself reading poems from Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou and eventually writing my own.  As of now I have 4 black and white notebooks filled from front to back of all of my poetry and spoken word. While taking English in high school it helped me to not only write proper but to speak with finesse and confidence. I also apply this to my everyday life as well.

                                        My relationship with language is a never ending one and because of it I yearn more knowledge of other cultures and how they speak. Communication is everything especially in a world where networking is so popular. It is interesting and amusing to see the different places and people your native tongue can actually take you. By just speaking a new world could be opened up to you where you can expand on your journey of language.