This is my Humanities Portfolio for 2008. This portfolio shows the work I have completely for english and history. It also shows how much of an understanding i have gained throughout the school year. The video below is a verbal and audio demonstration as to what i learned.

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Here's my Humanities portfolio about the things I remember most about . I couldn't record because my mike didn't work so I just wrote down what I was going to say under the slides...you'll see it. So I thought there was no point in making it into a movie since I don't have my voice in it...So HERE YOU ARE ENJOY!!     

“Erik, ¿que fue lo que dijo?” -“What did he say?” This is the very question my father would ask me when I translated for him at the lawyer’s office and everywhere I went with him to translate.
In my family there are two main languages that are used, Spanish and English. At home I speak Spanish, but my Spanish is not perfect. In my family we speak the Caribbean Spanish. There are many different kinds of Spanish.
I was born in Puerto Rico, to a Dominican man and a Puerto Rican woman. When I was two I moved to Philadelphia. In that same year around fall, I started my first day at a daycare/preschool. My parents did not know English at the time, so they wanted me to start learning English while I learned Spanish at home. By the time I was in kindergarden I was able to speak both Spanish and English. My English had a bit of an accent in the beginning of kindergarten but then I improved and starting speaking correctly. When I was older, my parents started using me as a translator. They would take me to their most important appointments.
My parents were really proud of me, but it seemed like what I had achieved was not what they expected, especially with my father. I would translate everything they would want me to translate.
I started to learn more and more and so did my parents. When I went with my dad I helped him with some translation. This is what happened…
“Erik, ven conmigo. Yo te voy a necesitar para que me traduzcas lo que yo le valla a decir al abogado.” said my dad.
“Ok, Pa’. I’m coming down in a few minutes.”
“Bueno avanza”
When we got to the lawyer’s office, I knew that my “job” was about to start.
“Good Afternoon sir, how may I help you?” said the secretary.
“Hi! ¿Erik, que fue lo que dijo?” said my dad.
“Ella dijo, Buenas tardes, ¿como lo puedo ayudar?”
“Bueno tu sabes para que venimos, dile.”
“We are here to see Edward…”
“Your name sir?”
I gave her my father’s name and she told us to wait. When we went into the lawyer’s office, my father started to tell me what he wanted me to say. Then, it was my turn to explain to the lawyer. When I was explaining my dad told me some other things that he wanted me to tell the lawyer. This is something we went through a lot over the years.
When I speak to my parents I have to speak to them in Spanish. This rule has a reason, my parents, especially my dad, hates it when we speak English. He thinks that if I keep speaking in English, I will completely lose my ability to speak Spanish at home. This is what he thinks:
“Ustedes son hispanos y su primer lenguaje es el español y por ley ustedes deben de hablar en ingles en la calle y en la casa deben hablar en español.”
My dad gets very flustered when he does not understand us and he starts making up stuff like, “it’s the law to speak Spanish at home and English outside.” My father is very judgmental of English speaking people. He has gotten in arguments that have had no point at all. This is very stressful and it embarrasses me whenever he does that, but now I’ve started to feel comfortable with that because it’s his way of coping with his inability to speak English. Today I try to help him learn more and more English, which is somewhat helping.