Imagine speaking only Spanish, moving to the United States, and suddenly being surrounded by English. That is a challenge that Karen Valdes had to overcome in her journey to becoming a Reading Specialist who works with native Spanish-speaking students. She finds out how she can help and support them in their reading.
When Valdes was just six-years-old, she came to Nebraska from Guatemala City, Guatemala. She didn’t know any English, but she was able to learn by watching television and being exposed to only English in school.
“I only spoke Spanish and I started kindergarten when I was six-years-old, and they just immersed me. I lived out in the country, so we didn’t have a lot of TV so I watched Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers, Reading Rainbow, and The Price Is Right. On The Price Is Right I’d practice a lot of my numbers. My bonus dad, he spoke Spanish and English, so he also helped teach me English,” Valdes said.
She has always wanted to teach ever since her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Jones inspired her. Jones and Valdes were unable to communicate with each other because Jones didn’t speak any Spanish, and Valdes didn’t know a word of English. Despite the language barrier, Jones was able to teach her how to read and speak English.
“I wanted to become a teacher initially because of my kindergarten teacher. Mrs. Jones was phenomenal. I don’t know how she taught me because she wasn’t an English Learners teacher, but she made me love learning. I learned how to read right away and reading has always been my passion,” Valdes said.
Valdes explains that growing up learning English is not as easy as some may think and can be frustrating because English speakers don’t always say what they mean. Things like idioms can be difficult for new language speakers to understand.
“The kids would say things like, it’s raining cats and dogs. And I, in my mind, I’m literally thinking cats and dogs because I learned the words cat, and dog. And it’s hard too because I feel like the English language has words from all over,” Valdes said.
She had to find ways to learn and study information in order to make that information stick, and there are many tips and tricks she has learned and is passing down to her students. Valdes is also able to connect with students through her previous experiences.
“My education has taught me how best to help others learn because I learned different ways to adapt and learn what I needed to learn. Everyone has a story to tell. I know what it’s like to be, not an outcast, but set apart from everyone. I went to a school kindergarten through twelfth grade. I was the only Hispanic kid. I know what it’s like to feel different. I also know what it feels like to be stereotyped,” Valdes said.
Valdes went from being a Reading Teacher at the middle school to a Reading Specialist at the high school. There has been an increase in the total percentage of enrollment of native Spanish speakers across the United States in EL classes from 8.1 percent in 2000 to 10.4 percent in 2023. Even though Valdes isn’t an EL teacher, she does assist in EL classes from time to time.
“I don’t know if people are moving to Nebraska more, because I feel like I have had way more students, obviously in the years since I was a student I was the only Hispanic student and now you can find Hispanic students in every class, more than one. I don’t know if it’s because of changes in our society or if we’re providing the services that they need,” Valdes said.
Learning a new language can come with many different struggles, some struggles include: the struggle of learning new words and sounds, culture, all the new people, and even facing judgment. Valdes highlights that her main struggle was adapting to the new culture.
“I think the biggest thing is the culture shock. I felt like Americans talked really fast. I felt like a lot of their customs were different. I also felt like people thought I was dumb or deaf because I didn’t know the language. Getting used to the language, getting used to the culture, and getting used to how Americans do things. Just a lot of different ways to live life,” Valdes said.
Being bilingual was very beneficial for Valdes because she was able to get a job right out of college and got a bonus just because she could communicate with more people.
“There’s benefits to having another language just because you can make more money, but also you can connect with different people,” Valdes said.
