Nyob zoo.
Hola.
Hello.
Senior So Her is terrified of losing his ability to communicate with his parents.
His parents know some English, but only certain words and phrases. Her said, “If I lost the ability to speak Hmong it would depressing.”
There are about 6,500 spoken languages in the world today. Of the 311 spoken in the United States, 149 are immigrant languages. With one out of every five people in this country speaking a second language, this issue of cross-generational communication is common. People who migrated to the U.S. brought their languages with them, but some are worried that they may be losing it.
Her is one of those people who feel like they are losing their roots. While growing up, he was taught to speak Hmong and that was his first language.
When he was enrolled to start kindergarten he had to start learning English.
As he continued through school he learned more and more English.
“I could still hold a conversation with my parents in Hmong, but sometimes I would struggle to find the right word,” he said.
Luckily, his sister is a Hmong language tutor so she can help him relearn his first language.
“Hmong ABC’s are very long so it gets hard to remember all of them, but I’m working through it.”

Junior Daniel Diep is also afraid of losing his Vietnamese language. School is also the reason his ability to speak the language decreased.
“Some words I can’t really say and some I just have completely forgot,” Diep said.
If he forgets his language then he risks losing communication with his parents as well.
“I try to speak English with them, but it gets foggy,” he said.
Another student, junior Martha Valencia, recently visited Mexico to visit family for Christmas. While she was there, she realized that her grasp of the Spanish language wasn’t as strong as it used to be.
“When I spoke I noticed I couldn’t say certain things and others were jumbled,” she said.
In seventh grade, the junior lived in Mexico and actually had to adjust to reading and writing in Spanish. Valencia said, “At first the kids used to make fun of me because I couldn’t read or write Spanish as easily, but after I explained to them my situation they understood.” The junior would also help out with the English lessons given in class. She would even help fix the teacher’s mistakes if one was made.
Valencia tries to keep up with her Spanish by talking with her mom, who lives in Mexico, on the phone.
Spanish is Valencia’s first language and she said that it is really important to her culture.
“My language connects me with other people and we’re allowed to connect on that level because of our language.”