My earliest memory of speaking Spanish was being a small child or toddler, calling my mother’s friend “Tía” instead of aunt. She had given me a book in Spanish, having lived in Honduras, and I read it so many times as a little girl. I loved having this unique nickname for the aunt figure in my life, even if I didn’t quite understand yet why I didn’t just call her “Aunt”.
I was raised in an English-speaking household. My father spent part of his childhood in Germany and still knew a little bit, but since he mostly grew up in a small town in South Carolina, he couldn’t teach me much German. My mother took it upon herself to practice the bits of ASL my preschool teachers and babysitters taught me, but she was mostly focused on helping me learn to read early and succeed once I started real school. Thus, my earliest Spanish education was through a preschool teacher who wanted all of us to know a little bit of the second most common language in America. Throughout the few years I attended that preschool, I brought home words and phrases to share with my family.
As I entered elementary school, the basic, once-every-two-week classes continued. Spanish wasn’t treated like it was very important, but I still tried to exchange “te amo” and “buenos dias” with my mother when I could and absorbed any information we were given on the culture. As I reached third grade, the pandemic struck and I found myself stuck at home with nothing to do. Desperate, I downloaded Duolingo. The little green owl and the satisfying Ding! of correct answers brought on an obsession of daily practice. By the next fall, my daily streak was my greatest pride, and I couldn’t wait to share everything I learned with anyone who would listen. Suddenly, learning a language felt manageable, and I had a new life goal: I wanted to be bilingual.
In fifth grade, I transferred to a new school. I was startled and delighted to discover that you could choose to study Spanish or French (I eagerly blurted out that I was doing Spanish before the explanation was over) and that the classes would occur four days every week. This, and my recently discovered goal, led to determination and focus in my studies like never before. I loved how my classes taught me real-world skills, like how to order in a restaurant or ask for directions, and how we got to study the cultures and traditions of different countries. When my teacher announced that we would eventually have study-abroad opportunities, I went home practically singing to my mother. “They offer trips in middle school! We have to sign up!” I had never left the country, despite my curiosity and interest in other cultures. I had a goal, and now I had a purpose. I wanted nothing more than to travel with my class, and to understand enough to travel with my family in a country where I could practice the language skills I picked up.
The years pass, and my classes get harder, but I continue to take Spanish classes, and through them, I finally got the opportunity I was waiting for. In the spring of 2025, a group of us from my school will be traveling to Costa Rica. As I realized that my dreams were accomplishable, the goal I first set for myself at eight years old seems more and more attainable every day. I listen to podcasts and music in Spanish, carry on conversations, and continue to explore my interests. My mother and I still exchange short phrases occasionally, and I still call my aunt Tía, although now I actually know what it means.
Over the years, learning Spanish has become more than an occasional class or a way to pass the endless days in my house. It has become sort of fulfilling in a way, each word a step toward my dream of speaking two languages. It became a way to expand my world beyond the borders of South Carolina and discover the cultures and stories of places I might one day see. And eventually, these studies will help me reach my ultimate dream: explore the world, and see everywhere I want to see in my lifetime. Those first experiences, all those years ago, paved the way for a curiosity that I would carry with me throughout my life.