Thursday, February 6, 2014

A Priceless Friendship in New York

It was back in 2010 when, after staying in Philadelphia for five months, my sister and I moved in with our mother to New York. After moving to New York I met my friend Steven. Steven was my first real American friend after moving to the United States and has always been that way for four years. Steven’s mother is Puerto Rican and his father is Dominican, however his Spanish is average due to a lack of a Spanish speaking environment when he was a kid. His parents never thought about speaking in Spanish when he was a kid but as he grew older, his mother noticed that it’d be much better for her son to start learning more about his parents’ first language. I remember that every time we hung out he would speak some Spanish to me because my ear was still trying to catch up with native speakers of English’s talking speed. Back then, I used to pay a lot of attention to how certain phrases worked idiomatically speaking in English, and how those phrases changed from one language to another. Steven and I liked many things, from video games to working out and joking around all the time. We both were always very persistent when it came to accomplishing a goal. Being friends with people with strong willpower is good for everyone due to its everlasting contagious, yet, good effects.

Having a friend whose native language is English has benefited me immensely. Not only did I practice English every day with Steven but I also became more confident when speaking and trying to get my thoughts out. A few months later we would go out to downtown Manhattan every weekend so that I could get used to using the train system, and familiarize myself with the city.

            I never felt like I didn't belong to New York due to its huge variety of different cultures and how friendly most people I have encountered have been to me. The transportation system is amazing and it reminded me of the Dominican Republic in terms of being able to find a way to get from one place to another through the different traveling methods.

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