Selenis Leyva Quotes

I still speak to my parents only in German, and I have endless family over there.

All my mom's side speaks Spanish. I speak to my grandparents in Spanish. Slowly. And they're patient with me! But I do speak with them in Spanish and carry on conversations with them.

I always speak Welsh to my family.

Well, I have a Norwegian father who emigrated to America in the 1950s, and he still speaks with varying degrees of an accent. Over my lifetime my ear has been well-tuned to that accent. Any first generation kid has that wonderful gift from their parents.

Even though I grew up in America, at home we spoke mostly Chinese, because my mom is from Taiwan.

My father had barely any education. He could hardly write or count. But his great pride was that he was perfectly bilingual. In the household, he entertained this idea that we had to speak both languages.

Being in southwest Detroit, when my dad would want to say anything about me or my brothers or sisters, he would start speaking in Spanish to my uncle and my grandmother because we didn't understand.

I still speak Czech with my parents because I was born there.

I belong to a specific category of writers, those who speak and write in a language different from that of their parents.

I grew up speaking both languages, and for me that's really important.

Hindi is my mother tongue. Even though I do not get to use it as often, it's still a part of me.

I definitely want to teach my daughter Spanish.

My first language is both English and Spanish. My mom was raised in Los Angeles, so with her we spoke English, but my father was born in Cuba, so with him we spoke Spanish.

My parents were both Spanish-speakers and they used to speak to me and my siblings in Spanish and we'd answer them in English.

Most of my family doesn't speak English. It's so important for the baby. He's going to know all his American roots, but he also needs to know about his Brazilian side.

Until the age of five, my parents spoke to me in Chinese or a combination of Chinese and English, but they didn't force me to speak Mandarin. In retrospect, this was sad, because they believed that my chance of doing well in America hinged on my fluency in English. Later, as an adult, I wanted to learn Chinese.

My mother at a young age put me in bilingual, so my strength is really more in Spanish. Even though I live and I was born and raised in the States, you know, in the Bronx, in Spanish I get my point across. And when I'm writing music, when I'm doing music, it's easier for me, and I know exactly how to express myself.

My mother came from Japan, and I really didn't understand her often. Now that I'm older, I do.

We speak Turkish at home, and I can speak the language. I have a lot of family there - I try to fly to Turkey once a year when I have holidays.

My grandfather spoke fluent Spanish and I have family members who speak fluent Spanish.

The fact is I do feel very Spanish, like when I'm talking to my wife and daughter in Spanish at two in the afternoon. I even think in Spanish when I get angry!

A young man who is here speaks the Panis language, and in many other respects, is preferable.

I've always been more in touch with my Ecuadorian side. I speak Spanish.

You know, even growing up going to school, I had teachers that were against bilingual teaching. I never understood that. My parents always had me speak Spanish first knowing I was going to speak English in school.

Though my father was Norwegian, he always wrote his diaries in perfect English.