Mailen's First Blog!

 Hola amigos/as! Bienvenidos a mi blog :) Mi nombre es Mailen Rodriguez y soy de Cuba. 



VBlog#1 <-- Hagan "CLICK" para ver mi video!



As I stated above, my name is Mailen Rodriguez and I am from Cuba! I am bilingual, and I currently speak English and Spanish. Spanish is my native language and English is my second language. I learned English in school with the help of my amazing teachers. As soon as I started attending schools in the United States, I was placed in the ESL program. I started school in the United States during 2nd grade and I was in ESL up until 5th grade. From what I remember, my ESL teachers never spoke Spanish, which I believe helped me learn English a bit more. Since none of them spoke my native language, I was forced to communicate in English, and I would always try my best. Another tool that really helped me was Rosetta Stone! Rosetta Stone was a website that we used, which would help us improve our English pronunciation and would help us say complete sentences. This really helped me because school was the only place where I could practice my English. My family only speaks Spanish, which meant that I would also speak Spanish at home. 
    Now that I am older, I would like to become a bilingual teacher one day. I am on the road to becoming an EC-6 Generalist, but I am thinking about teaching bilingual as well. I want to help kids who are experiencing the same things that I experienced growing up as a native Spanish speaker.

Comments

  1. Nathalie MatuteSeptember 21, 2023 at 6:39 PM

    Hi Mailen! I enjoyed reading, watching, and listening to your first Vblog! It was very interesting to hear how your school journey transitioned from when you attended school in Cuba and when you came to the United States. Our reading states "ESL and content instruction in English pressure students to replace or demote the home language, subtractive bilingualism may occur" (Wright, 2019, p.24). I was wondering was there was any time throughout your transition to the United States school system that you felt like you were having to replace or demote your home language? If not, could you share what your feelings throughout your transition felt like?

    ReplyDelete
  2. NHSmithSeptember 22, 2023 at 4:24 PM

    Hello Mailen....
    I enjoyed your blog. So much inspiration. The schools immediately help the students transition into another language by placing them in ESL classes. It's really an advantage that students gain access whereas their parents may be limited to express themselves freely without an interpreter. The resources that is available is important to help the transition become more smoother. Your experience would be the passion you use to help you commit to helping others in such a way that is personal and effective.
    Naomi

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  3. Dr. MonroySeptember 24, 2023 at 8:03 PM

    Very nice Mailen. Se te nota lo cubana en tu voz.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dr. MonroySeptember 24, 2023 at 8:04 PM

    I also think you would do very well as a bilingual teacher. See me if you have questions.

    ReplyDelete

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VBlog#2

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  Mailen's Blog- VBlog #2 For my second vBlog, I decided to interview my friend, Christofer! Christofer and I both came from Cuba at around the same age and we also attended the same schools growing up. I was very excited to interview him and to see if we had any differences and/or similarities as English Language Learners.      In this interview, Christofer tells us about his childhood and how he had to adapt to moving to a new country and learning a new language. Christofer and his family, like many other immigrant families, moved to the United States looking for a better life. By the time he arrived in the United States, he was in the 4th grade. While he was in the 4th grade, he was placed in bilingual classes. Being placed in a bilingual classroom was very helpful to Christofer. He was able to learn English very fast and he was also able to make many friends. He talks about how being able to make friends helped him accelerate his English because in order to communicate with the
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