AOC’s Tweet About Struggling With Her Spanish Is Super Relatable
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) pauses while speaking during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol on July 15, 2019 in Washington, DC. Photo by Alex Wroblewski/Getty Images
Growing up in the United States, you may find that you struggle with your Spanish – even if it’s your first language. This is certainly true for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. On Thursday, the Congresswoman tweeted about doing an interview in Spanish on Univision Nueva York about the Green New Deal, and many people felt seen by her revelation.
“I’m really proud of this interview!” she wrote. “Growing up, Spanish was my first language – but like many 1st generation Latinx Americans, I have to continuously work at it & improve. It’s not perfect, but the only way we improve our language skills is through public practice. #Palante.”
Many Latinos wrote back to AOC and told her they knew exactly what she meant, and that they, too, were also working on improving their Spanish. Check out a few responses below.
4
Nope. Spanish was my first language. Parents were bilingual. I was encouraged to learn English in Kindergarten and quickly acclimated to speaking English at school and home. I too struggle with grammar and fluency. Retention of a habit is from its frequency of practice.
— jocelyn bea (@jocett) September 6, 2019
5
Same here! Also, my Spanish kinda tops out at a 10th grade reading level or so. La lengua de la casa es diferente than what we are asked for in a professional context. I can kiki it up with my Tías but can struggle in some other contexts.
— Karla Monterroso (@karlitaliliana) September 6, 2019
7
I envy you. In 1952 when I started school in the Bronx I also spoke only Spanish. In those days their goal was to have you speaking only English. If you had and accent you went to speech class to get you speaking like everyone else. I had to relearn Spanish in college.
— Gregorio Rivera (@rivera_greg) September 6, 2019