Allison Aguilar

The City College of New York

[email protected]

December 8, 2025

Dear Professor Franco,

My synthesis essay explores what people lose or give up when they try to fit into a new culture or language. This essay will combine my personal experiences, as shared in “Language Difficulties,” with several outside sources, including Jamila Lyiscott’s spoken word poem “Three Ways to Speak English,” Safwat Saleem’s TED Talk “Why I Keep Speaking Up Even When People Mock My Accent,” and articles from the National Association for the Education of Young Children and Learning Ladders. In the following letter, I will explain how I developed my essay, the revisions I made, and how this process helped me grow as a writer.

My synthesis essay began with reflecting on my own experience of almost giving up Spanish because I was afraid of sounding “wrong” or being judged. I realized that these fears caused me to lose confidence and for a short time disconnect from my culture. Using this personal narrative allowed me to connect my essay to real experiences, and I wanted to connect it to sources that reinforced or expanded on these ideas. Jamila Lyiscott, a scholar and activist, in her spoken word poem “Three Ways to Speak English,” published through TED, addresses the topic of linguistic identity and argues that shifting between dialects is a sign of cultural adaptability , not a weakness. She supports this by describing her “three tongues,” showing how she adjusts her language depending on the setting, and exposing the unfair judgments society places on nonstandard English. Including this source helped me show how my personal struggles with switching between English and Spanish are part of a larger experience shared by many bilingual speakers.

I also incorporated Safwat Saleem, a visual artist and filmmaker, in his TED Talk “Why I Keep Speaking Up Even When People Mock My Accent,” published by TED Conferences. Saleem addresses accent based discrimination and argues that mocking someone’s voice is a way of silencing their identity. He supports this through stories of being laughed at, explaining how staying quiet made him feel invisible, and describing how he reclaimed his voice. He also highlights that society often treats accented speakers as less capable, which pressures them to stay silent. Including this detail helped me emphasize the external pressures that influence how people speak, reinforcing the main argument of my essay about confidence, identity, and belonging. By connecting Saleem’s experience with my own story and Lyiscott’s poem, I was able to show the consistent pattern of language affecting self perception and how individuals navigate these challenges.

Additionally, I also incorporated research based sources to strengthen the essay academically and make it sound knowledgeable. The NAEYC article “To Speak or Not To Speak My Language” addresses home language maintenance and argues that maintaining a child’s first language supports both identity and long term academic success leading to a nice life. The article also shows that children who begin favoring English too quickly may start losing their home language and culture slowly, which directly connects to my personal experience of almost abandoning Spanish. Learning Ladders’ article “Communicating and Engaging with Non-English Speaking Parents” provided a perspective on how language loss affects families beyond the individual. It demonstrates strategies schools can use to include parents, such as translating materials and starting discussions with positives, highlighting how language impacts family relationships and involvement in education. Both sources helped me connect my narrative to real world research, demonstrating that language and identity are interrelated on personal, familial, and social levels.

Throughout this process, I also worked on integrating sources smoothly and providing clear explanations for each quote. At the start, I tended to drop quotes into my essay without fully explaining them, but the revisions allowed me to analyze each source and tie it back to my central thesis. I learned how to introduce authors with their credentials, publication, and argument before discussing the quote, which made my essay feel more professional and academically attentive. I also focused on connecting paragraphs so that the essay reads as a cohesive argument rather than separate sections. For example, I merged my discussion of NAEYC and Learning Ladders to show how both sources reinforce the idea that language loss has emotional, social, and educational consequences for families.

Completing this essay helped me improve in several areas like synthesizing multiple sources, connecting personal experiences to research, and analyzing and explaining quotes. I also gained confidence in drafting and revising, understanding that revisions are an essential part of developing strong writing rather than just correcting grammar. This class, and your guidance, encouraged me to reflect deeply, think critically, and communicate my ideas clearly. I now feel more capable of writing essays that integrate personal reflection with academic research, which will benefit me in future courses.

Thank you for your guidance and feedback throughout this process. Your suggestions helped me refine my essay, strengthen connections between ideas, and produce work that I am proud of. I am confident that this essay demonstrates both my personal engagement with the topic and my academic growth as a writer.

Sincerely,
Allison Aguilar

 

 

Allison Aguilar

Mr. Franco

ENG 110

November 1, 2025

Synthesis Essay

When people move to a new country and try to learn a new language, they often feel compelled to adapt in order to fit in. They want to sound “normal” and not stand out. But when they do this, they sometimes lose confidence, parts of their culture, or even their connection to family. Many people don’t realize how challenging it is to balance two languages or two worlds simultaneously. This essay argues that people lose important parts of their identity, confidence, and connection when they feel pressured to hide or change their language to fit in.

In my story “Language Difficulties,” I talked about being scared to speak Spanish because I didn’t want to sound wrong or embarrass myself. When I mentioned, “confidence comes from being there rather than being perfect,” I meant that I learned to value effort over perfection. Before, I thought people would laugh at me for my accent or mistakes, but I found out that most people just care that you’re trying to communicate. This shows how trying to fit into one language or culture can make someone forget how special their own language is. I used to hold back, but when I started helping Spanish speaking parents, I finally felt proud of using both languages. Jamila Lyiscott, a scholar and activist, in her spoken-word poem “Three Ways to Speak English,” published through TED, addresses the topic of linguistic identity and argues that shifting between dialects is a sign of cultural adaptability not a weakness. She supports this claim by describing her “three tongues,” then explaining how each one fits into a different space in her life, and finally showing how society unfairly ranks certain Englishes as “proper.” She says, “I speak three tongues: one for each—home, school, and friends.” This quote means she changes the way she speaks depending on where she is and who she’s with. I really understand that because a lot of people who grow up around more than one language have to switch back and forth. When she says this, it shows that she’s not just changing her words; she’s adjusting part of her identity every time. It’s like she has to perform different versions of herself to fit in. I think this connects to my story because I also had to learn that the way I speak doesn’t make me less smart or less capable. Many people can relate to this because we all tend to switch our way of speaking depending on the situation.

Safwat Saleem, a visual artist and filmmaker, in his TED Talk “Why I Keep Speaking Up Even When People Mock My Accent,” published by TED Conferences, addresses the topic of accent-based discrimination and argues that mocking someone’s voice is a way of silencing their identity. He supports this with stories of being laughed at, then explaining how staying quiet made him feel invisible, and finally describing how he stopped being ashamed of his voice. He says, “My accent is a part of my story, and I’m done being ashamed of it.” This line is powerful because it shows how much he had to fight to accept his voice. This connects to both my story and Jamila’s because we all had to learn that our accents or ways of speaking are not something to hide; they’re part of our history and identity. His message encourages others to embrace their accents instead of seeing them as flaws. Saleem also shares that society often treats accented speakers as less capable, which pushes people to stay silent. This detail strengthens my point by showing that language pressure comes from outside judgment, not from the speakers themselves.

All three stories show that when people try too hard to fit into a new culture or language, they can lose the most important parts of themselves. They lose confidence, pride, and sometimes the ability to connect with their families. Jamila shows this through her “three tongues,” Safwat shows it through his accent, and I show it through my fear of speaking Spanish. Each of us learned to take that back by accepting how we speak, but there’s still more to think about, like what happens to younger generations who grow up speaking less of their parents’ language, or how families change/ feel when that connection fades.

According to a bilingual-education researcher in the NAEYC article “To Speak or Not To Speak My Language,” published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the author addresses the topic of home-language maintenance and argues that “maintaining children’s cultural and linguistic heritages leads to stronger identity development and long-term academic success.” This quote caught my attention because it shows that keeping your first language doesn’t hold you back, it actually helps. The author explains that families who stop using their home language often do it because they think English is the only path to success, which can cause children to lose part of who they are. This connects to my experience because I almost gave up Spanish out of fear. The article also describes teachers who support home languages through cultural activities, music, and stories. This made me realize how important it is for educators to support home languages instead of replacing them. Additionally, this perspective connects to how language loss affects families, not just children, showing the broader impact language pressure can have on whole communities. Another article, “Communicating and Engaging with Non-English Speaking Parents,” published by Learning Ladders, addresses the issue of communication barriers in schools and argues that educators must take active steps to include parents who do not speak English. The author supports this by giving strategies such as starting with positives and using translation tools “in over 100 languages.” This shows that even parents can feel excluded or judged when they don’t speak “real English.” It also relates to my essay because I helped Spanish-speaking parents and saw how hard it was for them to feel included. These two paragraphs build on the same idea: that language loss affects entire families, not just individuals, and together they show that losing a language doesn’t just impact how someone speaks, it impacts communication, relationships, and how included families feel in their communities.

All of these experiences, including my own, demonstrate that when people try too hard to adapt to a new culture or language, they sacrifice aspects of themselves that they may never regain. They lose their voice, confidence, and ties to their families. However, if we acknowledge the importance of every language and accent, we see the importance and have ways of changing it. When individuals are supported, they may preserve their culture while also succeeding in a new environment. I understand that giving up my language to fit in almost cost me my culture and voice, but now I’m glad to speak both English and Spanish, even if I make mistakes.

 

Work Cited

 

Learning Ladders. (2023, February 20). Communicating and Engaging with Non-English Speaking Parents. Learning Ladders Education. https://www.learningladders.info/blog/engaging-non-english-speaking-parents/

Mlittle. (2024, May 30). Jamila Lyiscott: “3 Ways to Speak English” – Writing Program FYW Resources. Writing Program FYW Resources. https://sites.sandiego.edu/wp-fyw/2023/02/23/jamila-lyiscott-3-ways-to-speak-english/

To speak or not to speak my language: Supporting Families’ home. (n.d.). NAEYC. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/fall2023/supporting-families-home-language

Why I keep speaking up even when people mock my accent – ENGL 110- Fall 2020 – KRamirez. (n.d.). https://ramirezengl110.commons.gc.cuny.edu/content/saleem/