Language Controversies

Being born and raised in Conyers, Georgia, I have always been surrounded by the southern English language. My mom is from Tennessee and my dad is from Texas. I don't think I have a heavy southern accent, but I do catch myself sometimes drawing out my vowels and I do say y'all a lot. All of my family speak English and have lived in the south all of their lives. I am accustomed to and have grown comfortable around the southern English.
Three or four years ago, my family moved off of our fifty acre farm in Conyers and into a subdivision. It was strange getting used to only living on 2 acres and having neighbors. As time went on, I began to recognize the different cultural backgrounds of the families living in my neighborhood. We have Asian, French, Brazilian, and Indian. My neighborhood only consists of about five streets, so I was surprised to discover this many nationalities in such a small area. My immediate next door neighbor is from Brazil and speaks Portuguese. They have five year old triplets and they love to come over and watch our dog play in our background. While they are visiting, I have noticed that whenever the mom is getting onto one or all of the triplets, she speaks their native tongue of Portuguese, but whenever we are casually talking with them, she speaks in English to them. It's made me realize how they are only five, yet they already know two different languages. Sure, they don't know perfect English yet or how to spell things or the rules of grammar, but from being surrounded by both Portuguese and English speaking people, they have picked up on both languages. My three year old niece is taught Spanish on a weekly basis by someone who comes into her daycare center in Alpharetta and speaks Spanish to them. It hit me while I was having dinner with her one time, that she knew probably more Spanish than I did since she just started randomly spitting out Spanish words and broke out into song about the different colors in Spanish. This is something that I wish I had taken advantage of when I was younger, and even in high school. I wish I had been taught at a younger age the difference between languages. I feel like if you start off with learning these things at a younger age then you will remember them better. Some people can just pick up different languages easily. My oldest sister know Pharsee, Spanish, some french and Italian, and of course English. For her, picking up different languages is a hobby that she enjoys. I on the other hand, have trouble speaking perfect English and the little Spanish that I remember from the three years I took it in high school. I enjoy listening to other languages and accents and wish that learning different languages came easier to me. With all the different languages though, it just goes to show that no matter where you are from or how you speak, there is still a great need for communication between individuals.