Buffalo, NY resident Vera Suarez is proud of her Latinx heritage: She takes any chance to embrace her culture she gets, as long as those chances are lunch time, or her weekly call with her grandma.
Werk that second language, girl!
Growing up in a bilingual household can be difficult for some people, but Vera is so proficient in her second language, she can say phrases like “Thank you,” “Hi Grandma,” and “More cheese, please!”
Plus, multilingual queen Vera only has to practice a sentence 10 times in her head before she says it out loud.
When Vera goes to her favorite Mexican restaurant, the owner greets her in Spanish and every time they have the same short-lived conversation. This is because Vera’s Spanish vocabulary is that of a fifth grader.
“I’m not insecure in my Spanish-speaking skills – well not until I get around my cousins,” Vera shared. “I mean, they know it’s not my first language, but that doesn’t stop their little jokes.”
When asked for comments about Vera’s Spanish fluency, Vera’s cousin shared that she “sounds like a little American baby” when she speaks Spanish.
Despite her lack of understanding of the language’s grammar rules, Vera is grateful that her grandmother encourages her to speak Spanish.
“My grandmother is so proud to be Mexican,” Vera explained. “She doesn’t want me to forget where I come from, even though I was not born in Mexico — I was born in a suburb of upstate New York.”
Period! We love a Mexican American icon!
What are Vera’s cherished conversations with her dear grandmother about? “My Abuelita likes to talk about what’s on Netflix and how her sister acts a little bitchy,” Vera gushed. “If I wasn’t bilingual, I couldn’t cherish these precious conversations, even though I can only really say two to four sentences in response.”
Way to take advantage of growing up multilingual, Vera!
