THE LANGUAGE OF MUSIC: AC STUDENT OVERCOMES BARRIERS
He
wanted to attend college in the United States, but spoke no English.
He wanted to major in Music, maybe specialize in learning a single
instrument; but life in Mexico had never offered him an opportunity to
develop any sort of musical background other than singing in a church
choir.
For Angelina College student Jaime Heredia, the challenges facing his
dreams and goals were far more daunting than those facing the average
college student. Simply put, he had to learn two languages at once.
In time, each helped him learn the other.
“When I took my piano lessons I had to speak a little bit of English,”
Heredia says. “My instructor, Mrs. (Rosemary) Swetland was explaining to
me the rhythms or the notes, but she was telling me in English. I
couldn’t understand how to translate that to the piano until I could
understand her words.”
One can say that the young man from Ukareo, Michoacan has nearly
mastered both. Heredia is now fluent in English and has learned piano at
such a high level he received the 2007 Charles Hogan Music Scholarship
for music majors.
All this from a young man who admittedly couldn’t even answer a simple
class roll call when he first began classes.
“The first three weeks of class were the hardest,” Heredia says, “just
because I didn’t understand anything, not even when they called the
roll. I couldn’t even say, ‘Here.’
“But after about six weeks, I started understanding enough to get by. By
the end of the first semester I could understand enough to pass my
classes. The main thing was to practice hard, and not get discouraged.
Some of it came naturally, but most of it came from practicing.”
Practice. A requirement for learning any new language. A definite
requirement for learning piano. Heredia says he would take new words and
practice their pronunciation for hours before attempting to put them in
the right context in a sentence.
“It’s a similar experience,” Heredia says. “For example, I didn’t know
Middle C when I started piano. Whenever I learned the letter names, I
started practicing at least an hour a day. The more I practiced, the
more I was able to recall them.
“I think when I was learning piano, it was the same as learning another
language. Both languages were new, and I kind of used the same process
for both.”
Ironically, Heredia had been hesitant to move to the U.S. His father, a
truck driver, moved here more than 10 years ago. When Heredia finished
high school, he passed his entrance exams and prepared to enter college
in Mexico.
But his father decided it was time to move the rest of the family to
Texas. Here, he told his son, there were far more opportunities to
achieve one’s dream. When Jaime said he wanted to return to Mexico to go
to school, his father talked him into staying.
So Jaime enrolled at Angelina College, knowing he faced a struggle to
overcome the language barrier. He took a piano class for non-music
majors, just to see if he’d like it.
Then, after hearing his instructor play, Jaime Heredia was struck with
love at first sound.
“When I heard her, I thought it was beautiful,” Heredia recalls. “I knew
that was what I wanted to learn.”
Learn it he did, to the point that Heredia regularly performs such
pieces as Mozart’s Sonata, Bach inventions, scales in four octaves,
arpeggios in four octaves; everything that sophomore and junior students
are required to master, Heredia has now performed.
His instructor calls him a “dream student, a young man who is very
respectful and willing to do any work asked of him.”
“When Jaime started here at AC, he couldn’t speak English at all,”
Swetland says. “But I could tell very early that he was responding to my
instructions, and was loving what he did. After a couple of class
sessions he approached me and asked if there was any way he could major
in piano. My heart fell, just because I knew he had no background in
piano whatsoever.
“Still, I could tell he was so sincere in his desire to major in piano.
I told him, ‘Jaime, we have a long hill to climb.’”
He’s nearing the top. Heredia says he plans to continue his education at
Stephen F. Austin University, where he hopes to earn a bachelor’s degree
in music. From there, he’s planning a career as a musician – or, if that
fails, to teach music.
He already knows what to say to any student facing a language barrier –
either musical or spoken.
“I would just tell them not to get discouraged,” Heredia says. “It’s
very hard at the beginning, but after that, if you overcome the first
barrier, it’s something that will help you in so many ways.”
