Jeshua Nunez  

English 110 B 

Dr. Clenance 

11/8/2025 

Dear Dr. Clenance, 

I hope all is well with you. I will be describing and telling you the process and thought behind my Language Literacy Narrative (LLN) as it is a very memorable moment for me. I will be informing you of my audience and what I’m targeting for my LLN. I will also demonstrate how it generally connects to my language/literacy but also how it influenced my perspective on my Spanish and English. My main audience are students (primarily college) that are also multilingual within their household. Another portion of my audience is also aimed at those who are against or don’t know more than one language. Throughout my LLN writing, my language targeted a realistic and awkward interaction that transitions into a wholesome and compassionate lesson by the end. I want my audience to learn that for one: it’s okay to not be perfect in both languages or understand it entirely and second: to understand and give more consideration to those trying to learn and live within a language that they aren’t accustomed to either. Throughout writing this assignment in this phase, the most meaningful insight that I took note of is how invisible and quiet language/literacy is in my life. I never paid attention to it now but as someone who struggled at first in my younger years, I realized how multiple other people who are older than me are also struggling and stuck in their language/literacy in this country. By writing on my LLN, I subconsciously connected language-related struggles to multilingual foreigners like my grandparents. In general, I learned that language and literacy are unique skills that each individual expresses individually. For instance, my balanced knowledge of English and Spanish contrasted with the lost lady in the subway, who was lesser in English but perfect in Spanish and with who I could not compete. The broad concept of language and literacy being important in everyone’s life when writing their LLN had an impact on my learning and writing. The surroundings, purpose, and argument all played an important part. Reading other peers’ LLN and writing on my own has increased my appreciation for language/literacy, and I believe it is worthwhile to protect my multilingual abilities while also defending those who share them. I hope this letter provides you with a stronger insight into who I am and why I shared my experience with this LLN assignment. Enjoy the rest of your day and take care! 

Sincerely, 
Jeshua Nunez 

 

 

 

Direcciones 

The smell of the subway is average; I’m used to it by now. This is my Senior year of my high school: Manhattan Village Academy and I always took the train home. It’s pretty late, a bit after 4:00pm and I’m in 34^th street train station waiting for my D train to arrive. I’m on my phone, listening to Radiohead. It was an average school day. I groaned in agitation noticing my train was delayed and I must wait even longer. 

As I continued to use my phone, I felt a light tug on my shoulder. I turned confused and saw short, tannish skin like mine, clenching her glasses and phone in one hand.  She spoke very low and avoided much eye contact, mumbling her words to me. I had to ask her to clarify as I struggled to understand her low mumbled English. The few distinct words I was able to hear were “help”, “I’m lost”.  Her figure and vibe reminded me of my grandma. I felt a sense of compassion and worry for this lady. I wouldn’t want my grandma to be lost and confused in the middle of the train station. The lady who still seems helpless and lost, began showing me her phone’s google maps, speaking louder and a bit more clearly in English. As trains move past me and her from the other sections of the station, I hear a mix of footsteps and luggage rolling on the floor. The usual rush hour sounds. The lady continues to explain her situation.  

“Huh”, “What do you mean?” I kept asking, feeling bad for her English. However, during one of her attempts to ask for directions, I heard her speak slight Spanglish, a mix of Spanish and English. This instantly reconnected me with my grandma as she also speaks a mix of English and Spanish, primarily Spanish. Out of compassion and a subtle bit of relief, I say back “nececitas ayuda?” (do you need help? The lady grins as she puts her hand on my arm this time, slightly squeezing it. Soon after the lady showers me with fluent and pure Spanish. I responded back, not as fluent but enough to have a proper conversation with her. As we spoke, I learned the true problem she’s facing. She is lost but needs to meet with her husband on 125^th Street. I happily helped her by telling her to wait here with me until the D train arrives, then get off at 125^th Street. She happily nodded and thanked me.  

At this moment, I felt a strong warm glow from her smile and appreciation. The way she said thank you really hit me hard because it was exactly how my grandma also gives thanks. Afterwards, the train arrives, and me and the Spanish lady talked about school, and she gave me advice, before being dropped off at 125^th Street. The whole train ride back home I thought of how she said “muchas gracias, bendiciones” (thank you, God bless) and how much my grandma is like multiple other Spanish-speaking mothers. If it wasn’t for me, no one would have helped her get back with her husband in time. I realized how much of a tool and importance my Spanish was for her situation. I rushed back home telling my grandma the whole story, and her response to me in her broken English was “we need more like you”. 

In any case, society as a whole should absorb my grandma’s final words of this moment in my history. My narrative wishes to not only share my experience but add as an extension to societal expectations in my eyes. One simple act of kindness and compassion can tie people together and go past language as a barrier. This lesson goes beyond language, and manifests as seeing beyond flaws, differences, and distinctions. As for my personal growth, I appreciate my bilingual gift more often and always keep an eye out to help others similar to the lady I met. Something the world needs to be more mindful of is that: there’s always a moment to help others in need.