Supporting Latinx People on their Spanish Journeys
If you live in California, you probably know at least one person who identifies as Latinx but doesn’t feel comfortable speaking Spanish. That someone might be you.
Every Latinx person has a different experience with the Spanish language. Some have been given the gift of fluency through their life experiences while others have been denied the opportunity to fully grow into their bilingualism or multilingualism.
Pew Research Center found that, among U.S. born Latinx people, only 55% say they speak Spanish at home (source).
Many Latinx people born in the U.S. are considered heritage language learners which means they were exposed to Spanish at home but did not reach full fluency due to insufficient support from their schools and communities to develop their Spanish outside of the home.
Heritage learners confront barriers that non-heritage speakers do not when trying to improve their Spanish. Many heritage learners have grown up in environments where their identity as a Latinx person has been challenged due to their lack of fluency and confidence in Spanish. Oftentimes, there is a lot of unpacking that needs to be done before a heritage learner can tackle verb conjugations and other grammar topics.
The fact that 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Latinx people may experience a detachment from Spanish is intentional–it is linked to centuries of colonial pressure on immigrants and Indigenous peoples to assimilate to the dominant culture.
Today, many 2nd and 3rd generation Latinx people are seeking to reclaim their heritage language – this is an exciting and hugely important movement toward language justice!
As current and future generations of Latinx people are supported by their communities to develop their Spanish outside the home, our society moves from one that sends messages that English is the only language that matters to one that values and lifts up language diversity.
We hope you are excited to learn about ways you can become a part of this movement through Café Puente below.
Interested in learning more about the unique experiences of heritage speakers?
Check out Forum’s podcast: Reclaiming Your Family’s Heritage Language, Even if Your Elders Never Taught You
And, this LA Times article: How second- and third-generation Latinos are reclaiming the Spanish language
Are you a Latino/a/e/x Spanish speaker/ learner?
We want to hear from you! We are currently building out our offerings specific for heritage language learners. Let us know what resources you are most interested in here.
