Language shows up in unexpected ways. In textbooks and classrooms, yes, but also in the quiet moments when students switch tongues without thinking, or when a menu item suddenly makes more sense in its original language.
For some, language is academic. For others, it is inherited. Language is a lens and at St. Paul Academy and Summit School many students who navigate more than one language often find themselves looking at the world through multiple frames at once.
For senior Trevor Hou, it is both a family language at home and a skill he continues to build in school. He speaks English and Chinese and since seventh grade has studied Spanish at SPA. To him, multilingualism is not just about communication, it is about expanding access to ideas, perspectives and worlds that monolingual speakers might never encounter.
Hou sees Spanish as more than just a class subject. “Spanish is one of the most widespread languages in the world. You can speak it in South America, Spain […] when you want to travel, you want to meet new people, I think it’s really useful,” he said.
At home, Hou speaks Chinese with his family. At school and with friends, English dominates. While bilingualism hasn’t dramatically shifted his day-to-day identity in Minnesota, Hou images that would change abroad.
“Everybody around me speaks English, I think that being bilingual really hasn’t shaped my like social experience, but I’m sure that if I go to a Spanish speaking country, being bilingual will really shape my identity, because in that case, I can communicate with more people than I [could] have originally,” he said.
The world also looks different through multiple linguistic windows. Sometimes, Hou compares headlines across languages to see what gets amplified or overlooked. “I do read news stories in Spanish and look at what the Spanish news sources are talking about. For example, when you search up [a news source in] Spanish, you are looking to learn about what’s happening in Mexico, Colombia, Chile and then you get to see a whole new perspective. I think that’s really interesting,” Hou said.
He also sees language as more than just a functional tool solely for communication. “I think language is sometimes really beautiful,” Hou said. “I think that it’s interesting to see how languages evolve. Linguistics, how people have different accents, […] understanding the history of a language, the context of a language, the origins of a language, the cultural context of language, all that’s really important,” he said.
As SPA continues to offer a range of language courses, Hou hopes the school community also broadens access whether through multilingual resources or more intentional celebration of students’ linguistic diversity.
As for mustering up the courage to learn a new language he has some motivation. “With enough practice, learning a new language is really not as challenging as you might think,” he said. “I think it’s worth a shot just to try learning a new language […] at least once.”
To master a language, he recommends complete immersion in literature, movies, TV and conversations with native speakers to build fluency in both speaking and listening.
For Hou, language can be practical for reading a menu in a Chinese restaurant or reading a news article in Spanish, but overall, is far more complex in the impact it has on the world. Each distinct language offers not just new words but new ways of seeing–perspectives that shape culture, identity and connection. In a community where English is ever-present, multilingualism is a skill and a bridge linking students at SPA to voices, stories and ideas far beyond Minnesota.
As this beat continues throughout the year we will learn more of the impact language has on students at SPA and the importance of linguistics in our society.
