The Benefits of Being Bilingual “My Spanish Standoff” by Gabriella Kuntz explains how the fears of prejudice against Latin America in the United States led her and her husband to avoid speaking and teaching their children Spanish. She tells about her life and her family’s lives and their obstacles when learning English and Spanish. One reason is that she decides not to teach her native language to her children is that she saw how the Anglo-Saxons in the community treated her because of her dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. Another reason, she mentions to involving the fact that her children could developed accent if there thought Spanish. Because of this reasons, Kuntz decides only to speak to them in English to prevent others from…show more content… Therefore, I disagree with Kuntz for three reasons, and feel that denying her children the opportunity to speak two languages are wrong, simply because she fears prejudice against a country that continues to become more and more tolerant every day. Reason one, growing up I didn’t not yet speak English. My mother could not teach me because she did not speak the language either. As much as I wanted to learn, I was discouraged when American kids would make fun of my heavy accent. They could not understand any of the words I was trying to say. However, the harder I tried, the better my English became. Based on my own experiences, I have a strong belief that being able to speak two different languages gives people better opportunities in school, employment, and their own personal lives. For example, I was able to get a better job as a waitress only afterward, the job prefers bilingual individuals. While most customers speak only English, there are also a good amount of Spanish-speaking families that prefer a Spanish-speaking waitress. In this regard, I am seen as more valuable to the company for being able to give those families a more comfortable din experience. Second reason, the career opportunities continue to grow for bilingual individuals. Translators and interpreters are one of the top fifteen fastest-growing occupations in the United States, with nearly 25,000 translation and interpretation
