North Allegheny is a very diverse community. The many languages that are spoken around the NA community is just one piece of evidence on how we are lucky to have various cultures around us.
October 3, 2019
It is easy to think that everyone around us goes to a similar household every night, speak the same language and has the same cultural traditions as you. In reality, it is nothing like that. We all have different lives and different backgrounds.
As we walk around the hallways of NAI, we see people of different diversities and religions, but we rarely think about how English is not the first language for many. Although most of us began learning a new language in eighth grade, few of us are fluent in that language or any language other than English. Fortunately, at North Allegheny, we are surrounded by a group of students who can speak multiple languages and/or moved to the United States from a country with a national language other than English.
According to the Center for Immigration Studies, about 20% of U.S. residents speak a different language at home. NAI does not differ from this statistic. People that we go to school with speak a language other than English at home. Many brain studies show that learning another language develops neurons and allows people to stay mentally sharp. We interviewed some kids around NA to get a look at what life is like speaking another language at home.
Lara Ries, a sophomore, speaks portuguese at home.
NAEYE: Where are you from? Did you move here from somewhere else?
Lara R: I moved here from Brazil in the middle of 2016
NAEYE: What languages do you speak?
Lara R: I speak Portuguese and English
NAEYE: Which language do you speak more often? Or have you spoken it your whole life?
Lara R: I think I speak Portuguese more often, and I have spoken it my whole life.
NAEYE: How long have you been speaking that language? / which language did you learn first?
Lara R: I learned Portoguese before English
NAEYE: Do your parents speak English? If not how does it feel to be the translator between your parents and others?
Lara R:They do speak English
NAEYE: Does it ever get annoying when people ask you to speak your language? Or asking blunt questions
Lara R:Not really, I mean, they’re trying to find more knowledge about it so I don’t
really mind it.
NAEYE: Any challenges?
Lara R: Sometimes I get a lot of grammar errors, but that’s about it.
NAEYE: Does knowing more than one language help with your language studies at school, or does it make it harder?
Lara R: It does help because they are both from Latin.
NAEYE: Could you tell us your favorite joke or pun in that language, and explain what it means
Lara R:“O que um cupim disse para outro? Me dá um cupim de água?” It translates to “What did the termite say to the other? Can you give me a small cup of water?”
Dasha Komarova
Daria Komarova from Russia explained how it is to speak two languages:
NAEYE: Where are you from? Did you move here from somewhere else?
Dasha K: I moved from Russia
NAEYE: What languages do you speak?
Dasha K: English,Russian
NAEYE: Which language do you speak more often? Or have you spoken it your whole life?
Dasha K: 50/50,at home I speak Russian, at other places English
NAEYE: How long have you been speaking that language? / which language did you learn first
Dasha K: Everyday life I speak Russian, I learned both at the same time.
NAEYE: Do your parents speak English? If not how does it feel to be the translator between your parents and others?
Dasha K: They speak English
NAEYE: Does it ever get annoying when people ask you to speak your language? Or asking blunt questions
Dasha K: Nah it fine
NAEYE: Any challenges?
Dasha K: No
NAEYE: Does knowing more than one language help with your language studies at school, or does it make it harder?
Dasha K: No I speak good in English and Russian
Lily Cunningham is a sixteen-year-old sophomore at NAI. This is her first year of journalism, and she is looking forward to what the new school year will...
Sushmita Rajan is a Sophomore at North Allegheny Intermediate High School. A volunteer for UPMC Passavant she loves to help people. As this is her first...
Tigris0229 • Oct 4, 2019 at 10:26 pm
Super cool! Never even knew of the language Urdu.
Ryan Nash • Oct 3, 2019 at 9:57 am
Great Article! Never realised just how many people speak a language other than English at home in America! With all the benefits that come from speaking more then one language, especially if its learned early on in life, makes me wish I learned one.