From Suriname to South Florida

Meet Diyanti Wongsopawiro, a proud Suriname native who immigrated to the United States when she was just 8 years old. In this podcast she shares her her journey of learning English as a child new to Florida.

Diyanti moved to the United States in 1992. Her family told her that they were going on vacation; she later found out that they would stay in Florida and not retrun home. In Suriname, Dutch is the native language and it’s not very common for the locals to speak English. Her journey of learning a second language helped her to stay connected with her home country’s culture. Diyanti learned to stay connected with her roots in Suriname through music and family.