Having more than a way with words

By: Chris Bausinger

Posted: 5/5/08

Tadashi Miyagi defines himself as a Japanese man who came to the U.S. to improve his English and obtain a university degree.

A 22-year-old senior environmental studies major, Miyagi speaks fluent Japanese and prides himself on having a good understanding of the English language.

"(Everyone in Japan) have to take English classes," Miyagi said. "Most of them are grammar skills, like reading skills, but not very many speaking or listening or conversation skills -vocabulary, you know, starting with 'apple.'"

Much like the old adage that says, "We fear that which we do not know," for students who are bilingual, speaking their native language in a foreign land can make people around them uneasy. Whether born outside the United States or to immigrant parents, these students face the challenge of learning English and retaining their parents' native tongues.

Mitchell Balajadia, a 23-year-old senior industrial science major, said he speaks the national language of the Philippines.

"I speak Tagalog mostly when I speak with family," he said.

More typical is the story of I-Ting Liu, who was born in Taiwan after her parents fled China to escape the communist regime, coming to America shortly after her birth. She took English as a Second Language during elementary school.

"When I was a kid, I did ESL," Liu said. "I thought it was, you know, for a few minutes every day. Somebody pulls you out and you go into this office, and you read and play games. That was actually the best part of my day."

She said she thought she was doing something different from what the other kids were doing.

"I remember being in that room and reading the letters 'E-S-L.' I was like, 'Oh, OK, that is probably what I am doing.' I had no idea that not all the other kids did it."

She also said that when she was young, kids knew she was different but didn't take that into consideration when picking people to play with.

"When you're younger, kids just assume your Chinese. That's like the go-to Asian race."

Kim Chavis, who works in the SJSU American Language Studies department, describes ESL as "programs that serve students and professionals who want to improve communicative confidence for their academic and personal goals."

Miyagi chose to brush up on his English the summer before he began his freshman year at SJSU and enrolled in ESL classes at the University of California Irvine.

"Many people just come to ESL, and they study there and get a (high) enough English score to get into a university," Miyagi said. "But for me, I already got admission from (SJSU) before I came here because I studied a lot in Japan."

Miyagi said he sometimes struggles to put sentences together properly in English. Even though he has been learning English since seventh grade, Miyagi still struggles with his sentence structure and accent.

"I used to get stressful when I cannot say what I want to say, but now sometimes I get stressed about my poor accent, and some people do not understand."

Wiggsy Sivertsen, in the SJSU counseling services department, said she understood Miyagi's frustration.

"Americans are not very good with other people's accents," she said.

Balajadia said he didn't seem to find any issues with speaking his native tongue.

"When speaking specifically about the act of speaking Tagalog," he said, "I experience no discrimination."

In contrast to what Miyagi feels about putting together sentences in English, some students feel that they struggle to speak the languages of their native countries.

Liu describes herself as Chinese but said that she feels that being in America had a role in breaking down her understanding of the Chinese language.

I-Ting Liu, a 23-year-old social sciences major, said that her parents' English is not that good, but they try so that there is common communication.

"Their English is comparable to my Chinese. They can get by, but can't have intelligent conversation," Liu said.

"The deterioration began when I moved out. Because at least when I was living at home, I would talk to my parents every now and then. Now - the language - I know it less than I used to."

Miyagi said he feels the same way, but about the English language, when he doesn't use it for a period of time.

"I go back every winter and stay (in Japan) for one month. When I come back, my English is a little rusty."

He said that because he is only speaking Japanese when he goes home, that some of his English becomes hazy.

"If you don't use it, you forget," he said.