I visited Ishtar’s Ethnic Food Store at 5:00pm on a Wednesday afternoon. When I walked in, I first noticed loud, festive ethnic music playing and a steady stream of customers coming in and out of the store! As I stood near the entrance, camera and notebook in hand, I immediately felt out of my comfort zone. I looked physically different from everyone else in the store, and I felt as though every person there was looking at me and judging me. As I walked towards the back of the store, I saw two men look at me and then begin a conversation in Arabic. I was probably being paranoid, but automatically assumed that they were talking about me. It made me very anxious and uncomfortable not being able to understand what they were saying. Just then, as I got my camera ready to take a picture of a food label, the owner (Arabic) approached me and in a thick accent asked how he could help me. I informed him that I was a teacher intern, exploring my school community, and he smiled and told me to find him if I had any questions. At this point, customers smiled at me as I walked by them and I was beginning to feel more comfortable. There were rows of exotic fruits, spices, baked goods, and foods which I had never heard of! Food labels were written in all varieties of languages throughout the store. In fact, I picked up one item and found that the nutrition facts were listed in 20 different languages! In the back of the store, I was surprised to find 3 men baking fresh Arabic bread in a stone oven. When the bread was done baking, they would toss it directly onto the table for customers to take. As I made my way back towards the front of the store, I noticed music, religious jewelry, and hookahs, all telling me more about the Middle Eastern culture. Finally, as I was leaving, I spoke to an employee who told me that although virtually every written language can be found in the store, all of their customers speak one of three languages: Arabic, Chaldean, and English.
Overall, I had anticipated several things, but others surprised me. Specifically, I anticipated the festive music, food labels written in other languages, employees and customers communicating in other languages, and aisles of unique foods, beverages, and spices. However, I was surprised at how many people were actually shopping in the store! As I said above, people were constantly coming in and out. I was also surprised not to find more Japanese influence in the store—I’d say the store mainly catered to those of Middle Eastern descent. Finally, I was surprised by how uncomfortable and different I felt at first, walking into the store!
This community experience has taught me a lot about my school, students, and their families. It has helped show me that my students come from all different walks of life. Each student’s family looks different, interacts differently with one another, has different traditions, etc. I also better realize how wonderfully the school tries to keep contact with all families (by hosting multiple family events, having bilingual paraprofessionals, translating newsletters, etc.).
This experience has helped give me some perspective. I looked, sounded, and felt different from the people in the ethnic food store. This is just how my ELL students must feel in the classroom—particularly my Japanese students! My Japanese students speak little English, look differently from their classmates and teachers, and sound different from everyone as well. I am now able to better appreciate how they are feeling and understand why they tend to be so withdrawn and introverted. The experience will help me when I’m teaching because I have learned the importance of being patient! I need to be patient with my reserved ELL students and appreciate what they are going through. Something that seems second nature to me may be completely foreign to some of my students. I also feel that I understand the importance of differentiating instruction (based on varying language development and comfort levels). For example, I don’t see a problem letting my struggling Japanese students write in Japanese once every week or two if it helps them express themselves and become more comfortable in the classroom.
This influences my thinking about students as literacy learners because I better appreciate how difficult it must be to speak, read, and write in multiple languages. I became overwhelmed and frustrated by trying to figure out what Arabic food labels translated to in English. I now feel that my students are constant literacy users and learners. Literacy surrounds them wherever they go—from writing a story about their pets at school to reading the Arabic food label on a can of lima beans brought home from the store. As Catherine Compton-Lily indicates in the article, “Listening to Families over Time: Seven Lessons Learned about Literacy in Families,” there are often times more literacy practices and educational experiences occurring at home than we realize (456). Most of my students have a much greater responsibility with literacy than I did when I was in first grade because they are exposed to different educational experiences at school and at home (often two different languages). However, I am amazed at how capable and strong they all are as literacy learners.
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