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One. Voice
SUSAN G. MADERA
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i . Y ; \ : : ~ . / . , Susan G. Madera was burn and rai sed inUttle Italy, i n Mmhattan. She lives
wi th her husband and two Chi ldren i n Queens, New Y ork. She received her
Associ ate i n Arts degree from Queensborough Communi ty College in 2003,
and graduated from Queens College (CUNY ) wi th a B. A i n Engli sh and Sec-
ondary Educai i en. Record i n your journal your responses to Madera's fi rst
. paragraph.
. :.b~~~G UP, I KNEW TWO LANGUAGES: English, and neighborhood. The
former was taught at school, and the latter was learned at home, from
family and friends. I could read and write inEnglish, but I spoke neigh-
'borhood, "What is neighborhood?" you may ask. That is thelanguage
spoken inthe neighborhood of my youth, Little Italy. Itis a language
.,\~.::~ fullof slang words, and colloquialisms. Where I grew up, almost every-
.. spoke neighborhood.
As a child, I attended Transfiguration, a small Catholic gr ammar
inChinatown. This school was several blocks away from our
'\.:Cramoed,fifthfl.oor apartment inawalk- up building onBroome Street.
a financial hardship for all fivechildren inour family to attend
schooL My father worked two strenuous jobs so that we could
the benefits of a good education. I wore my plaid jumper, crisp
blouse, and red uniform tiewithpride each day.l was getting the
education that money could buy. My father said that ifI studied
I was going tobe"someone" when I grew up. .
Ingrammar school, themost difficult subject I studied was English..
were so many complicated rules to memorize! To me, it was
a::'{orei.'gnlanguage- mysterious, and intriguing, but not a language
fluently. I was not alone inmy feelings of dismay. Many
~f~th~~sfudentsinmy class were having difficulty learning this new
'ttetitilinber Dominick Mazzocchi asking, "How can you say ai n't
responded, "Not only is it not aword, but that was a
~ponded, "Double what? I wish you would talk English!
i.'tiil'derstandirig you."
SUSAN G. MADimA : ~;::
"You mean, I\i:meof us are understanding. Ybli:\ ter r iai-ketr '~i11
teacher. i .' ', J < : : '. : ; : ': ;
Dominick screamed, "We don't talk like you do!" He:wo':';~.... :.;:.- ;;.:",,;,
the principal.'s offi\::e. : '. ..' :.:. .
The truth is, ~e did not speak alike. Although we were.'ge~;ii;;';~
great education h;l. school, it was the language we learned Or it$dEn>f\
school that determined our speech. Amy Tanwrites that fhe~1ty~ti'.i;
friends speak to you, while you are growing up, will,have;:a\',greii. .
impact onyou (page45).Theeffect onmy language skills was afrem~~ .
dous one, albeit negative. I could not speak English properly- ..,".'.:',.:.~::;(~ .,.~
Once outside the neighborhood, this language hindered me;; ~"wiili: ..:.:
not always understood clearly, or was mocked. "What do. yo\i~an>':
you want to 'take' a haircut?," asked the hairdresser. "Where:dQ;Yo~:',.. ;
want to takeit?" He began tolaugh at me. I was so embarrassed..How. ; \ ; ,
could he not understand me? Thelanguage I picked up onthe strei!ts::.
was apart of me, but as I grew upI wanted toget as far away froiji ib:iiS:' .'
possible. It embarrassed me, Inthis case, being bilingual.was.not- a: - .
blessing, it was acurse. . '. : < : : : i . : : ; : ~
Inhighschool, I beganto usethe rules taught to meinmyEnglish; .
classes in grammar school More than anything, I wanted to speak.like
everyone else. I tried mybest, hut was unsuccessful. Theonlyway I roiild
stop speaking neighborhood was totakeaknifeand cut thetongue frorit
my mouth.! Inmy junior year, I was approached by my English teacher
who asked ifI would liketowrite forthe school paper. '1can't do tluit!~~
I exclaimed, "I don't talk right!" Shethen toldmethat although I didnot
speak correctly,I wrote correctly.Mywritten work showed no traceofmy:
flawed speech. She hadsomuch confidencein methat shewantE!d:mE:.t~ ,...
edit thepaper as wellI was flabbergasted, and quickly accepted thepoS:i.~"..:...... ;;- ;
tion. When my first story was published, I was amazed at the;IespOnSa. .; ,'<
I received frommy peers. No onebelieved that I had written itl I cbu1d; .'. '.. :::,;_ .;::;:
indeed, write inproper English. This gave mehope. Perhaps, oneda.t' .,': .,- ::.::;.\:,,;:~1II
I might also be able to speak correctly. I felt very much like M~Bella.' .' .
'Mirabella, who described how shefelt when sheaccomplished her'goalsx : \
Shewrote, '1was nolonger theproverbial small child.looking intheshop::
window,'? Hoo was nolonger ontheoutside looking in. ..:.': ..:.":..::.:: ".:...
Success atlast!
After high school, I attended Brooklyn College.
for the first time was likebrowsing through a travel brocnlire".J i
transformed into atourist. Therewere trees everywhere; Althi:?ug}t 1=
only inBrooklyn, I felt far from the city streets of Manhattari:.
1M.Bella Mirabella. "TheEducation of an Italian- American Girl ..
My. Ed. J anet Zandy (Rutgers University Press, 1995), pp. 162- 172. :,:,::.;.:.
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