Kyne! Your journey is very similar to mine. I left Caloocan when I was 5 also and very quickly lost my Tagalog when I settled in Texas. To this day, I can understand but I cannot speak…which has given me a kind of imposter syndrome around my heritage.
Interestingly, what has helped me through these feelings is being the faculty sponsor of the Asian Student Union at my school. Asian students, unsurprisingly, make up less than 10% of my campus’ demographics. Many of them speak their native tongues but so many of them are like me— feeling so Americanized but also feeling like we want to connect with Home. ASU has given them the comfort in at least knowing that even their teacher deals with “how Asian” she is.
My bio-kids don’t speak or understand and that makes me really sad. Lola tries to teach them but without full immersion, it’s really hard. Maybe this needs to be a family endeavor!
Yess! Having family around to practice with is key. But even though I can practice with my mom I often slip into English since it's faster and I don't have to think about translating each word. The only way to practice is to force ourselves and put in the effort! Maybe start using Tagalog words around the house like kanin, pintoan, labada, sasakyan? Hahaha it's a start!
Kyne! Your journey is very similar to mine. I left Caloocan when I was 5 also and very quickly lost my Tagalog when I settled in Texas. To this day, I can understand but I cannot speak…which has given me a kind of imposter syndrome around my heritage.
Interestingly, what has helped me through these feelings is being the faculty sponsor of the Asian Student Union at my school. Asian students, unsurprisingly, make up less than 10% of my campus’ demographics. Many of them speak their native tongues but so many of them are like me— feeling so Americanized but also feeling like we want to connect with Home. ASU has given them the comfort in at least knowing that even their teacher deals with “how Asian” she is.
My bio-kids don’t speak or understand and that makes me really sad. Lola tries to teach them but without full immersion, it’s really hard. Maybe this needs to be a family endeavor!
Yess! Having family around to practice with is key. But even though I can practice with my mom I often slip into English since it's faster and I don't have to think about translating each word. The only way to practice is to force ourselves and put in the effort! Maybe start using Tagalog words around the house like kanin, pintoan, labada, sasakyan? Hahaha it's a start!