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Languages We Speak

Languages We Speak

The first time I drove in New York City I was 19 and scared out of my mind! Here was this Minnesota girl steering her green nova through streets that were unfamiliar and had me feeling like I was in a foreign country.

I wanted to see New York City since I was a little girl and I was determined that given the chance, I would take it. The chance came and I took it.

Never thinking that a snowstorm would arrive the day before my arrival to the city, I hadn’t planned for it and surely didn’t consider the consequences.

Driving and totally lost I found my way to a gas station to ask for directions, the guy answered my questions but I couldn’t understand a word he said. I was totally out of my element, when I got back to my car I was now lost both in the city and lost in my thoughts.

I stopped a few more times to ask for directions, again no understanding of the answers given. What?

You see, I figured out that I was in Brooklyn and these guys were speaking Brooklyn English to my Minnesota English. This was my first experience with language that didn’t make a lick of sense to me. Never before had I had the chance to get out of dodge, and when I did, I found myself in a place where English was not the language I thought it was.

Remember it had just snowed a bunch, the streets were packed with snow, cars, and me. I was freaking out for a time and directionless until I stopped, took many breaths and looked around, took my time, and miraculously found my way out of a city I had only dreamt about. I made it! I was there and I survived.

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