Literacy Narrative 

Cassandra Cruz

September 13, 2025 

Language and Literacy is something that played a significant role in my life. Moments I find beautiful are when I see people sharing their cultures with other people. Seeing the joy and light in the eyes of people who have just discovered new food or music never fails to amaze me. I come from a Cuban family where upholding our Cuban traditions like dancing and cooking is very important, let alone being able to speak Spanish effortlessly. Speaking Cuban Spanish is a difficult thing to grasp because depending on where you are from, the accents tend to vary between slower and gentle or faster and harsher.

I only spoke Spanish until I was in about the first grade. Luckily for me I attended a dual language school so I was surrounded by individuals who were very similar to myself and had the same obstacles to face. Even though I had a lot of Spanish speaking friends, there are not many Cubans in New York which still placed a small blockage between me and my peers. A lot of the time people find it difficult to understand Cuban accents or slang. Cuban accents are known for being typically fast and over the years I have found to have lost it. My father is a chinese-cuban American and my mother migrated from Cuba knowing the little english she managed to learn in school in Cuba. When my mother got to the United States she had learned English, went to school, and got her master in science. Even though my mother was always the smartest in the room, people would often find her accent hard to understand, leading to them making assumptions about her because her English was “imperfect”.

 A lot of my mothers friends in school came from different backgrounds, mainly European. My mother shared her culture with her friends allowing them to expand their taste in music, fashion, food, etc. A lot like my mother, I have had a lot of similar experiences. One specific moment I can remember was taking my American friends to try some Spanish food. My friends Jas, Ava, and Chloe were all my softball teammates. After our game we were extremely hungry so I suggested a place to eat. I had suggested a Spanish bakery and they had all agreed. When we arrived at the huge orange sign with cake and fruit designs printed on the outside of the bakery we were excited to step in and check out all the food options. When the time came to order, we had realized that the workers only spoke Spanish. At this moment, my friends wanted to order pastellitos and smoothies but were not efficiently able to convey their message. I then translated for them, which made everything more efficient and all around easier. When we finally received our food the pastellitos looked and smelled great so I know these workers had made them with love and care.

My teammates were thankful for a new experience like trying new foods. It is always a fun experience introducing friends to a new culture and seeing the difference in  perception in a shared space. Knowing Spanish was important in this moment and being able to communicate with other people with the same culture is always an amazing experience.