As I grow older the more I realize the very small amount of cultural diversity I experienced in my day-to-day life, even though I have always lived in East County. Apart from a few children who were minorities in my classes, my world could not have been more whitewashed. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had been able to more genuinely experience different cultures at a young age.
As I grow older the more I realize the very small amount of cultural diversity I experienced in my day-to-day life, even though I have always lived in East County. Apart from a few children who were minorities in my classes, my world could not have been more whitewashed. Knowing what I know now, I wish I had been able to more genuinely experience different cultures at a young age.
It was not until 8th grade that I was enrolled in a proper Spanish class. I instantly fell in love with the Spanish language. I loved the way that the sounds flowed in such a way, and that most of the time everything had a very specific pattern. But, as I moved into high school and into the upper levels of Spanish language, I began to lose my lust for learning it. And I realized it was because of the way it was taught to me.
In my 8th grade year I learned the language alongside learning about the culture, and how the two combined to make the language sound the way it does. When I reached high school, the learning became formulaic and memorization based, and much of the wonder was lost to me as Spanish became a routine to learn rather than a doorway into another culture and way of life.
It is important to instill a sense of curiosity in children to learn about other cultures as our cultures are beginning to blend more and more rapidly everyday. Embracing new ideas, languages, and cultures at a young age, I believe, can pave the way for a more accepting and loving future for generations to come.
I feel that one of the worst characteristics of American society is our frequent and often effective attempt at segregating and excluding other people and cultures. American’s should not waste time promoting one culture over another, and should instead work towards blending our cultures and teaching our children multiple languages early on in their lives.
In East County alone we have a very large Latino population, as well as a very large Middle Eastern population. Both of these cultures play a huge role in our society and even in many people’s day-to-day lives. To not embrace the variety of cultures that surround us everyday is foolish. There is so much to learn about the people and places around us.
Schools should encourage a bilingual education for students as well as offer an in depth education on the many cultures in America. The more that we as a society share our culture, the more that we grow as people and understand different ways of life.
