Page 22 - Language and Literacy Project Stories Revised

I was able to have a surge of self-growth and appreciation for my
identity. I began having conversations about my heritage, took
classes where I learned about my culture, and spoke to peers in
my language. I found that the pride that I had lost could be
reborn and reconstructed into something stronger than it had
ever been before. The duality of my linguistic identity now had a
place in my outside sphere of influence because I
unapologetically invited it into my daily life. I gained this
comfortability, and my self-perception has prospered because of
it.

When I consider the duality of my language, I find
something valuable and beautiful. Igbo and English
unabashedly run together in a wonderful stream of words, in a
way that is curiously messy and coordinated at the same time.

Hearing the term “broken English” used to hold a negative
connotation for me. But when I think of it now, I realize that my
English is not broken in the common sense of the word; instead,
it is infused my heritage, transforming it into a language that is
as authentic and legitimate as my identity.

21