Tongue Twister
Sally sells seashells by the seashore…
I say… spectacularly
Yet, I am unable to pronounce
The providence my parents were born in
My ignorance assumed language
Would be passed down through genetics
But such an excuse is just a synonym
For forgetfulness
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…
I proclaim… perfectly
Yet, I am no longer pretending
Because the truth is: I was an active participant
In the process of porgetting-forgetting
Flipping my “f’s” and “p’s” was precisely
Why I began to practice without consideration
For the consequence
Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather…
I listed… limitlessly
Yet, I am ready to relearn
As familiar syllables roll off the tip of my tongue,
I am reminded of who I am and where I come from
My identity is not meant to be lost in translation
This is only the start of my journey
For self-acceptance
Reflection
As a teacher, I encourage my students to speak their native language because I know how difficult it is to learn later on in life. I know how easy it is to forget. If you don’t use it, you lose it.
I often wish that I was taught Tagalog growing up. But, I understand the complex decisions my parents navigated through. Although my mom wanted to teach us, my dad was a bit more reserved. Not only was he concerned it would impede our studies, he also knew his grammar and vocabulary in Tagalog weren’t that strong.
Studies now show how L1 (the first language a child learns) supports L2 (the second language a child picks up). I cannot change the past, but I can work on the future. I hope that languages continue to be passed down from generation to generation. I advocate that within my classroom with students and parents.
Prompt
This week, I want to focus on the sound of language. Students often assume that poetry has to rhyme. When they only consider words by matching the ending sound, their final poems are often limited, forced, and corny. That’s where lessons on alliteration, assonance, and consonance come in. The repetition of sounds can either be a vowel or consonant that is placed at the beginning, middle, or end of words. Have your writing explore one or more of these literary devices.