Hi Alexia!
I like how you bring your mom's decision into focus. It makes the theory feel grounded in real choices at the kitchen table. It's really interesting how you notice the ripple effects now, comparing your Romanian to friends with similar backgrounds. That detail gives weight to the "critical period" idea without turning it into a slogan. I also like how you frame Romanian at home as more than a vehicle for words. Identity. Kinship. Texture. I felt that. When you linked this to BICS and CALP, it clicked for me in a different way. Conversational English arrived quickly at school; academic English took time and structure. Meanwhile, the literacy muscles you built in Romanian were already doing quiet work in the background. That’s a strong read on transfer. Your point about "not switching to imperfect English" at home stuck with me. I grew up toggling between registers and sometimes I catch myself sanding off pieces of my home voice to sound more "classroom ready." Your words nudged me to treat those voices as additive. Not a trade. A stack! I relate to the domain-specific vocabulary piece too. I have words that only live in certain rooms. Little things like "lah" or "yah" that slipped into English without me realizing. I’d say "So fast one!" or "You eat already?"--phrases that felt completely natural at home but strange anywhere else. Even the way we softened disagreement, starting with "Maybe can…" or "I think a bit different only." Those expressions carried a tone, a rhythm, a kind of gentle playfulness that I didn’t find in other Englishes. Hearing your story reminded me to curate those spaces rather than collapse them into one tidy bucket labeled academic. Naming the intention behind your parents' choices got me thinking about how I might protect the fullness of my own languages with that same care, so the classroom builds on a foundation that already belongs to me.
I like how you bring your mom's decision into focus. It makes the theory feel grounded in real choices at the kitchen table. It's really interesting how you notice the ripple effects now, comparing your Romanian to friends with similar backgrounds. That detail gives weight to the "critical period" idea without turning it into a slogan. I also like how you frame Romanian at home as more than a vehicle for words. Identity. Kinship. Texture. I felt that. When you linked this to BICS and CALP, it clicked for me in a different way. Conversational English arrived quickly at school; academic English took time and structure. Meanwhile, the literacy muscles you built in Romanian were already doing quiet work in the background. That’s a strong read on transfer. Your point about "not switching to imperfect English" at home stuck with me. I grew up toggling between registers and sometimes I catch myself sanding off pieces of my home voice to sound more "classroom ready." Your words nudged me to treat those voices as additive. Not a trade. A stack! I relate to the domain-specific vocabulary piece too. I have words that only live in certain rooms. Little things like "lah" or "yah" that slipped into English without me realizing. I’d say "So fast one!" or "You eat already?"--phrases that felt completely natural at home but strange anywhere else. Even the way we softened disagreement, starting with "Maybe can…" or "I think a bit different only." Those expressions carried a tone, a rhythm, a kind of gentle playfulness that I didn’t find in other Englishes. Hearing your story reminded me to curate those spaces rather than collapse them into one tidy bucket labeled academic. Naming the intention behind your parents' choices got me thinking about how I might protect the fullness of my own languages with that same care, so the classroom builds on a foundation that already belongs to me.