Pasta and pizza were on everyone's lunch menu in my native land of Italy. Everyone who had such a lunch was fair-skinned and spoke Italian. A few years later, as I stood in the lunch line with my kindergarten class in a school in Brooklyn, I realized things were no longer that simple. My classmates ranged from those kids with pale skin and large blue eyes to those with rich brown skin and dark hair. The food choices were almost as diverse as the students. In front of me was an array of foods I couldn't even name in my native language. Fearing that I would pick out something awful, I desperately tried to ask the boy ahead of me for a recommendation. Unfortunately, between us stood the barrier of language.
在我的家乡意大利，每个人的午餐菜单上都有意大利面和披萨。吃过这种午餐的每个人都皮肤白皙，会说意大利语。几年后，当我和布鲁克林一所学校的幼儿园班级一起排队吃午饭时，我意识到事情不再那么简单了。我的同学中既有皮肤白皙、蓝色大眼睛的孩子，也有皮肤深棕色、头发乌黑的孩子。食物的选择也和同学们一样变得多样化。摆在我面前的是一系列我甚至无法用母语说出名字的食物。由于担心我会挑到一些糟糕的食物，我尽力想向前面的男孩寻求推荐。不幸的是，我们之间存在着语言障碍。
Although my kindergarten experience feels like a century ago, the lessons I learned will stick in my mind forever. For the past three summers, I have worked in a government agency in New York. New immigrants much like the little girl in the lunch line flooded our office seeking help. I often had to be an interpreter for the Italian-speaking ones. As I served the role of vital communication link, I was reminded of my desperate struggle to converse before I learned English. I watched with great sympathy as elderly Italians tried to hold a conversation in Italian with people who did not speak the language. It suddenly became very clear to me how lucky I was to be fluent in two languages.
虽然我在幼儿园的经历感觉像是一个世纪前的事了，但我学到的经验将永远留在我的脑海中。在过去的三个夏天里，我一直在纽约的一家政府机构工作。新移民就像排队吃午饭的小女孩一样涌入我们的办公室寻求帮助。我经常不得不为讲意大利语的人做翻译。当我扮演着重要的沟通纽带的角色时，我想起了在学习英语之前，我不顾一切地与人交谈。我怀着极大的同情看着意大利老年人试图用意大利语与不会说意大利语的人交谈。我突然清楚地意识到，我能流利地说两种语言是多么幸运。
In New York, a multicultural city, students like me are blessed with a chance to work with a diverse population. In my English to Italian translations, I've learned about social programs that I didn't know existed. This work expanded my mind in ways that are impossible inside the four walls of a classroom. Walking through the streets of Brooklyn today, I am no longer confused by this city's sounds and smells. Instead, enjoy its diversity.
在纽约这个多元文化的城市，像我这样的学生有幸有机会与不同的人群一起工作。在我从英语到意大利语的翻译中，我了解到了一些我不知道存在的社交项目。这项工作拓展了我的思维，待在教室的四面墙内不可能实现这一切。今天走在布鲁克林的街道上，我不再被这座城市的声音和气味所迷惑。相反，享受它的多样性。
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