The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is located in a very unique place and is part of a bicultural, bilingual community primarily in English and Spanish. It is America's leading Hispanic-serving institution and the second-largest university to have in its majority a Mexican American student population.

Spanish Consultations and Workshops

El Paso is a border town with Cd. Juárez in our neighboring country, Mexico. The University Writing Center (UWC) now offers consultations in Spanish if the student feels most comfortable with a Spanish speaker who can help them better interpret their ideas into English. Additionally, if the text is completely in Spanish, they can request a writing consultant who is familiar and knowledgeable of the language, grammar rules, and structure so the writing can be fluid just like it would be in English. Workshops about academic strategies and formatting in the styles of APA and MLA are also available now in both languages, as well as online and in-person at the UWC Conference Room. Workshops can also be requested for classroom presentations through the UWC’s website.

As a student, I found it hard to receive the writing help I needed when my ideas are originally in my native language, Spanish, being translated into English. However, this was a problem that many of my classmates also faced, many of them coming from Latin American and Spanish-speaking countries. I wasn’t aware of the resources available on campus, such as the UWC and Spanish tutors. Ever since I began working as a writing consultant (and I’ve been here a while now), I see myself in a lot of students. The same uncertainties and anxieties of if the writing I bring makes sense or if it’s good enough for the college level. Now, I love to reassure students that knowing another language besides English is a good thing. Writing takes practice, and we have to remind ourselves that reading and talking are also helpful ways to perfect a language.

Bilingual Texts and Professional Opportunities

Bilingual students in English and Spanish are the most common students we see at the UWC, but there are also available consultants who speak other languages. A bilingual document is a text that is expressed in two languages, and this can also take different approaches. Most commonly, each text is written side by side. It may be the case that students decide to write in “Spanglish,” which is a combination of using both languages within the same text. Other cases where a student can incorporate multiple languages can come in the form of footnotes or notes for the audience non-native of the language to better understand.

The Bilingual Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at UTEP allows for students to code switch or write completely bilingual texts. I have only just started this program, but I’ve realized that many other departments across the campus offer similar cross-language pedagogy (Spanish and bilingual sections for classes like translation, interpretation, creative writing, rhetoric, etc.) As an undergraduate, I received the Bilingual Professional Writing Certificate, which is another unique opportunity offered to students to expand their networking, sharpen their skills in both languages (English and Spanish), and become more marketable for the job industries.

Final Remarks

English as a second language can be daunting, especially at the university level. Most students feel they may not be as capable as their peers or will not succeed because their English “is not so good.” Though imposter syndrome can be hard to overcome, it is important to remind ourselves that being bilingual is a great skill. It opens doors of opportunities and makes you more marketable as an employee. Practice makes perfect, and it is essential to be patient with ourselves as we continue to learn and write.