Hello! My name is Spyros Petrou. I live with my mom and my dad. My whole family is Greek, and that’s the language we speak at home. I enjoy reading, spending time with my family and friends, playing basketball, and playing soccer. I don’t have any siblings or pets at home, but I have dogs in Greece, where the rest of my family lives. My difference is that I speak English, Greek, and I’m learning German with my dad and Spanish in school. This makes me unique because I don’t know anyone else, except my dad, that can speak so many languages. I like having this difference because it might help me in the future, like when I might be trying to find a job, or if I’m traveling. Also, having differences makes the world a better, and more interesting place.

This difference influences my life in many ways. Sometimes, me and my family are talking with other people in English, and I have to translate some English words to Greek words so they can understand them. Also, because I know all these languages, I have to take lessons with my mom. My dad teaches my German, my mom Greek, and at school everyone learns Spanish. Another way these languages influence my life is religion. I’m Christian, so I have to go to a Greek Orthodox church on Sundays and other religious holidays. Greek was the first language I knew, since I was born in Greece, but when me and my parents moved to the U.S., I had to learn English. Learning English was difficult at first. I had to miss lessons and go to ESL (English Second Language) classes. I couldn’t understand what any of the teachers or students were saying, so I just did whatever they did. But with the help of ESL, in a couple of months, I could speak English fluently. As I said, I’m also learning German, because my dad was born in Germany. I try to do lessons once a week, but sometimes we don’t. I do know a couple of things in German though, including the alphabet. The last language I’m learning is Spanish. I’m learning it in school with the rest of my classmates. I’m advancing in all of these languages with the help of my teachers and parents. I think having this difference is awesome, but it might be annoying sometimes. For example, sometimes I want to explain something to someone in English, but I only know the word in Greek. That might sound annoying, but really, speaking 4 different languages is great because you can switch from one language to another. I’m happy and thankful that I have this difference, even though it might influence my life a little bit.

Knowing many languages has many advantages. For example, I can talk one language to my parents, and then switch to another language to talk to my friends. Another advantage is that I can say something to someone out loud, and nobody will understand what I said. This advantage can be useful if you are planning a surprise for someone and you don’t want them to know. Additionally, you can teach others a language, which is kind and helpful. I also make new friends because I know that many languages. I can make friends that speak the same language as me, which I do. Lastly, knowing many languages means that if you travel and go to another place, you might already know a few things about the other country’s language, so everything will be easier. As you can see, speaking multiple languages is amazing, for many reasons. I like to flaunt my difference by talking Greek to my parents, and not being afraid that others will make fun of me. I’m not afraid to talk other languages in public, because it isn’t bad to have a difference like that. We should all flaunt our differences, because we all have a lot of them. Having differences makes the world a more fun, unique and interesting place.

To conclude, I would like to say that I really like knowing how to speak multiple languages, as I already said, and I hope to continue advancing in every one of them. I learned that having differences is not bad or embarrassing, it is awesome! I like to flaunt this unique difference, not hide it. The world would be a much better and happier place if we all proudly flaunted our uniquenesses. So, never hide your differences, flaunt them, and make yourself proud that you have differences that make you who you are.