4-Literacy+Dig

Asking the family to participate in this part of my research was not difficult at all. In fact they were excited to share their home with me and everything literate about it.

__Bill__ ** told me how he uses the computer to shop and find “You Tube-Videos” about household and automotive repairs. He told me trying to understand instructional manuals in English was very difficult for him and being able to watch someone “do” something helped him learn a lot better than trying to figure it out himself. He also admitted it has saved him a lot of money in service calls and car repairs. In addition, Bill reads up on issues that concern him such as lung cancer because a co-worker had been diagnosed with it. At that time, Bill smoked and he went online to research the risks and ways to stop smoking. He also pointed out to another co-worker that they both smoked the same kind of cigarettes as their mutually sick friend and that they were manufactured in Japan. He jokingly hinted to the fact the Japanese may be upset about the “bomb” years ago and this may be their revenge. I’m glad to report Bill and Christina have not smoked in two years. __Stephanie__ ** is a typical teenager who reads lots of books especially the “Twilight” series and “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” series. She was very excited about their corresponding movies and anxious to read more from these authors. Overall she said she enjoyed school and looked forward to going to an all-girls high school the year after next; however her father expressed concern over too much drama without boys around. She also told me she likes being on the internet occasionally for educational purposes and that she does not use it to access social networks such as “Facebook” because she just wasn’t interested in that. __Julietta__ ** loves to visit the library with her family. She can read above reading level in English and likes to be challenged. She can also read in Spanish, but says she prefers English over the two. Her and her parents often exchange notes left on the counter as a way of family communication. Bill told me she surprised him one day by writing him a note in Spanish better than he probably could have. This apparently shocked both parents because they assumed she did not know how to write in Spanish at all. Julietta also enjoys making books, especially comic-type books because she likes to draw boxes and fill them in with pictures and words. Unfortunately, after a long discussion about how great they have all turned out, she was unable to locate one in her room due to the excessive mess. Luckily I was able to sympathize having an 8 year old of my own and knowing how bad his room looks. As for her computer use, she no longer wishes to be part of that any longer. Her father seems to think they had a talk with her at school about safety on the computer and since then she refuses to go near it stating she is scared. Before this alleged talk, apparently she was on the computer almost every day playing lots of educational web games and sharing her great scores with everyone in the house. Christina also said she did a lot of typing on the computer then too. She liked to type stories and read them to her mom before bed each night. Christina said they were very good and she often surprised her with her creativity. __Caroline__ ** moved out on her own a couple of years ago, but she still visits her family often.
 * __Christina__** showed me her recipe collection in a tattered old recipe box, some written in Spanish, some in English, while other recipes had been printed from the internet. She asked me to try some of the dishes she had prepared and explained how “American” their meals had become after living in the U.S. after only a few years. She cited the assimilation rule of thumb of “five years” and after that timeframe you generally don’t eat many rice and bean dishes anymore, but rather a mixture of American, Southern Cooking, Italian and some Mexican. Later, I found it interesting she’d left out Asian and wondered if they had ever tried it. She also mentioned the classes she has taken to better her job skills and friends she speaks with regularly in other languages besides Spanish and English.