Two is better than one
Multilingual students navigate school, family and belonging at a majority-English university.
By Annessa Ihde | Reporter
As a high school senior getting ready to leave her Salvadoran family in Maryland for a small, private school in Minnesota, Emely Castillo-Hernández didn’t know how to respond to her classmate who asked her: “Why do you speak Spanish with everything you say?”
Castillo-Hernández remembered thinking: You’re Latina, too. So why are you telling me this?
Castillo-Hernández grew up speaking Spanish. Her first words were Mamá, delicioso and Papi. Her preschool teachers were mostly Latina. She transitioned into an English as a Second Language (ESL) program at her elementary school. It was fun when she got to leave class, but it was also tough, especially when she had to read. Emely hated reading.
“It stemmed from not understanding,” Castillo-Hernández said. “I learned more words in Spanish than I did in English, so it was really hard when I started going to school.”
“I feel like I’m in the right field and able to help students.” — Emely Castillo-Hernández, Bethel student
But now that she’s an elementary education major, she’s discovered a new love for reading with her kindergarten class. Her bilingual background helps her connect with more students.
“[Spanish] definitely has some benefits because I am able to help those students who have a similar background,” Castillo-Hernández said. “I feel like I’m in the right field and able to help students.”
Since coming to Bethel in 2020, Castillo-Hernández feels like she’s lost some of her native language. It was easier to speak Spanish in Maryland where the student population was 50% POC and 50% white. Now, she is fully accustomed to learning in an English classroom, but she misses speaking Spanish.
On campus, her Spanish interactions are limited to conversations with Spanish-speaking friends and Voz Latinx meetings. For the most part, when she’s at Bethel, Castillo-Hernández speaks a language that any high schooler in a beginner Spanish class would recognize: Spanglish.
She no longer “speaks Spanish with everything she says,” but it still makes her day when her friend Vana greets her with a loud “Amigaaa!”
Htoo Paw hates it when people call her “Huh-too.” The “H” is silent. But she thinks the “H2O” jokes are kind of funny.
“I can tell by the way they pronounce my name” — Htoo Paw, Bethel student
She started learning English in third grade when she moved to Texas from a Burmese refugee camp on the Karenni border. She learned Burmese, Karenni and English in school in addition to the Karen she spoke at home with her parents. And she still wants to learn Thai.
“I can understand if a teacher hasn’t seen or experienced or encountered Karen students, I can tell by the way they pronounce my name,” Htoo Paw said.
Htoo Paw is an education major. She wants to teach in a diverse school district, possibly the St. Paul public school system. She won’t be the teacher who mispronounces names.
Lulu Shwe hates her real name. Look Ler Shwe. At least that’s what the immigration officials wrote down when her mother said her name in Karen.
“I’ve always felt so embarrassed,” Shwe said. “I really don’t like the name Look Shwe.”
Shwe’s family moved to the United States when she was four years old. Her parents speak Karen and her cousins speak mostly Burmese.
“Most of the time if I speak Karen, it’s not a full sentence. It’s more like goofing around with friends,” Shwe said.
Transitioning to Bethel was hard at first. On her first day of class, Shwe cried in front of Geetha because she forgot her mask. She walked into CWC with tears still in her eyes. This year, she eats in Htoo Paw’s apartment multiple times a week, and hangs out in the CCC lounge every day. As an art therapy major, she looks forward to becoming a counselor some day. If she has kids, she wants them to speak Karen.
Speaking in a multilingual home looks different for every family. Emely Castillo-Hernández and her siblings will listen to her parents’ Spanish and respond in English.
Lulu Shwe takes on a translator role for her family as she is the only one who speaks English.
Htoo Paw speaks 100% Karen with her mom, 90% Karen and 10% English with her older brother, 75% Karen and 25% English with her older sister, and 25% Karen and 75% English with her little sister.
Deborah Iranezereza’s parents think she should call them more often, but when she does, they speak Kirundi.
Whether they speak Spanish or Karen or Kirundi, multilingual students share a similar struggle: the feeling of knowing parts of multiple languages but not fully understanding any of them.
“I just feel like I belong in that room.” — Lulu Shwe
Different grammar, different norms, different jokes. Sometimes Htoo Paw misses a joke in English, and just laughs along. But in the CCC lounge, where both Shwe and Paw hang out almost every day, the jokes don’t fly over anyone’s heads.
“I just feel like I belong in that room,” Shwe said.
Castillo-Hernández echoed Shwe’s feelings, “There’s always that piece of comfort when it comes to finding people that look like you.”
Deborah Iranezereza’s mom wanted a daughter. After four sons, Deborah was an answer to prayer, so she was given the name “Iranezereza” because it means “God is happy.” In Kirundi culture, children each have their own last names.
Iranezereza started learning English when she was 14. She grew up speaking Kirundi in her home and learning French in school. In her ESL classes, she couldn’t understand or communicate with the other students because no one else spoke Kirundi.
“I was just watching them and listening,” Iranezereza said.
At Bethel, Iranezereza studies math, business and biblical studies. She often has to follow up with the professor after class to clarify a concept or ask questions.
“I can’t go at the same pace… because I have to keep translating,” Iranezereza said.
Iranezereza can sense a personality change when she switches between languages. Deborah in English is more professional. Deborah in Kirundi is a little more feisty. She’s not afraid to argue.
Sometimes you forget that you even have an accent because they’re making you feel welcome.” — Deborah Iranezereza, Bethel student
Iranezereza has found good friends at Bethel. She chose the people that make her feel most comfortable.
“Sometimes you forget that you even have an accent because they’re making you feel welcome,” Iranezereza said.
“She doesn’t speak Kirundi with anyone at Bethel. She hasn’t met anyone who would understand. And she feels like she’s lost her French.
Of the six majors and minors eliminated in recent program cuts, four are language or language education programs.
A spirit of curiosity expressed through real personal connection. That’s what it takes to transform Bethel into a multilingual, multicultural space according to Angela Carlson-Lombardi. She spoke passionately about the strides the Languages and Cultures department has made in celebrating languages, building visibility and bringing students into the program. She acknowledged that Bethel is not the only university that cut or restructured its language programs in the last couple years.
Carlson-Lombardi was part of the faculty senate who approved language testing with the goal of granting credits to native or heritage speakers of non-English languages. Instead of simply waiving the S-tag requirement, the department now grants students up to eight credits for their language skills. Bethel is one of few universities that offers multilingual students academic credit for their language.
“That goes a long way in valuing your cultural background, your heritage and your language,” Carlson-Lombardi said.
As Bethel’s Multilingual Academic Support Coordinator, Kristen Nichols-Besel’s full-time job is to value and support multilingual students. In the past, students whose first language is not English have been referred to as “English Language Learners (ELL),” but that terminology has recently changed. Nichols-Besel has embraced a more inclusive approach which emphasizes the assets of students who communicate in multiple languages over the “deficits” of not being a native English speaker.
“If I need anything,” sophomore Lulu Shwe said, “Kristen is my go-to.”
Nichols-Besel’s students invite her over for home cooked meals in their dorms, and she makes it a priority to attend the events they lead. Most recently, she brought her kids to the Asian Heritage Month celebration where they learned how to make spring rolls in the Underground.
