Lopez 1
Writing 001
Professor van Bebber
13 October 2014
Marvin Lopez
Dear Ms. Edite Cunha
After reading your article “Talking in the New Land” and getting to hear your story
about how you were forced to translate for your Portuguese speaking father, it made me
reflect on the times I would translate for my parents. The worry of not translating
properly and fear of the consequences that could happen, because of my lack of
complete mastery over the Spanish language, for me this worry accumulated as my
failures in translation became more and more apparent. Growing up my older sister
usually did the bulk of the translation and I think because of that and my own disability
to completely grasp either English or Spanish. My troubles with this one thing is what
has allowed me to better understand some of the troubles you faced in your attempts to
translate for your family, especially at such a young age. Before I get into detail of my
experiences of translating I want to tell you my view of translating and what I thought of
it from watching my older sister do it.
When I was younger I would usually be with my mom and older sister. My mom
can only speak Spanish due to the fact that both she and my dad emigrated from El
Salvador in the late 1980’s. My sister, being older and having attended school in
English, was tasked with being my parents’ translator whenever the need arose which
typically was at the doctor or the Department of motorized vehicles. I, being so young,
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saw my sister translate and due to my naiveté saw her do it so easily that it did not
occur to me how difficult it truly was. After years of seeing my sister translate and
becoming older I too began sharing in the responsibilities of translating for my parents
and it made me realize so much.
I began translating for my parents whenever my sister was unavailable. This
became more common in my sister’s later years of high school, due to her having to
juggle her own social life, as well as school life. One particular moment I remember,
when it came to translating was a time when my mother took me to a neurologist,
because of mental health problems I was experiencing. On this visit, it was my mother
wanting to ask the doctor questions about what was happening and trying to get his
approval for medical examinations and attempting to get a new prescription for the
medicine I was taking. The appointment was during the middle of the school day for my
sister, meaning she would not be joining us which also meant that I would be the link
between my mother and the doctor. It was very stressful, due to me not being able to
translate some words from English to Spanish and vice versa. The results of my inability
to translate properly slowly became more apparent as the doctor was getting frustrated;
he did his best to hide the frustration, but you could still notice it by the way his speech
pattern changed as well as the change in his body movement. Right after we left the
office, I felt depressed, because everything felt like it went so wrong and it did not help
that my mother pointed out that the reason the doctor became frustrated was because
of my bad translating.
After that horrendous experience, I began trying to learn more Spanish in order
to prevent this from happening ever again. You had your own problems when it came to
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translating, namely the understanding of more complex words, which was similar to me
which is another reason I felt connected reading this text. Now the way I got over it was
through help of my family. When I was in middle school, a cousin that could only speak
Spanish came to live with us and he and I shared a room. Since he could only speak
Spanish, I slowly learned more and more while teaching him English without realizing it,
until other people mentioned it to me. I still have a long way to go, before I am able to
translate precisely, but I am getting there and the fear and worry is slowly disappearing.
When reading your story there were a couple of times when I noticed that you
seem scared one time is when you said “the lady was looking at me I hoped she
wouldn’t ask me what my father had just said”( Cunha page 5 line 51 ). Repetition even
if it seems simple can be one of the most difficult things to do because sentence
structure does rarely follow the same rules across different languages. This is a lesson I
have learn personally but that is not important at the moment because it is a problem
that most people without a complete grasp of language face every time they attempt to
translate. While you may not have explicitly stated it in your essay I have a theory about
your identity crisis. My theory is that when your name was changed and you felt your
identity was being the translating you had to do made you feel more out casted because
you were the only one available to fill this role.
Another point in your essay that I found interesting is near the end when you say
“I hated pai for being so stubborn. I hated the lady for not taking the dishes before the
house was sold. I hated myself for having learned to speak English”.(Cunha page 10
line 143) While I cannot completely understand your feelings at the time I have but one
thing to say and that is never hate language while it may result in difficult experiences
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language is what keeps culture alive. Language will result in problems no matter if you
completely grasp it or not that’s how communication works and how it will continue to
work because language also doubles as a tool to relay tour beliefs to other people.
Language should never be hated as it is never a languages fault for creating a terrible
situation but rather it is the fault of those who use it who should be blamed. Learning a
different language is a great thing because it allows you to develop a general idea of
how the natives of a language live their lives based on the tome of their words and the
ability to understand the slang they use in everyday life. You should not hate yourself for
learning English but should embrace it because it will lead to a better understanding of
people and how parts of the world in which the language is spoken is in relation to other
countries with different languages.
Translating can be one of the hardest things to do and I can sympathize with
your struggles and assure you other people face the same problem to varying degrees.
You may have had a slightly harsher experience than others due to not only having to
translate, but also to get accustomed to the new locale you were placed in to.
Regardless of what you have experienced with language in your life never hate a
language because it is the key that will eventually lead all people on earth to one day
better understand each other. You have had a difficult journey in life but I hope you
have come to accept both of your Portuguese and newly acquired American culture
despite struggles in translation and with your struggles in rediscovering your identity
after your name was changed to better fit the American culture. Your essay is very
comforting with the fact that it’s through the eyes of someone who has faced a similar
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problem in the past and I hope to one day read more of the stories from your upbringing
to where you are today.