Our very own fellow Triton student Jennifer Calkins, can speak four languages! The four languages are Portuguese, Cape Verdean, Spanish, and English. Jen has learned how to speak these languages because of her parents. Her mother is Cape Verdean and her father is American.
She grew up only speaking English but when her sister came to America, everything changed. To be able to communicate with her sister, Jen had to learn how to speak Cape Verdean. Cape Verdean is a slang of Portuguese so it was easy for her to learn both.
Spanish came easy for her to speak because of the knowledge she has of the other languages. Jen also takes Spanish in school which helps her learn the grammar, spelling, and other words she may have not known in Spanish.
At her mom’s house, she always speaks Cape Verdean and at her dad’s, she only speaks English. Cape Verdean
Photo of Jennifer Calkins

is her favorite language to speak, but Portuguese she sometimes struggles with.
Cape Verdean is a small island on the coast of Africa and the language is not very common, so you will not see it show up on Google translate.
As for the other members in Jen’s family, her oldest sister and younger brother from her mother’s side can speak these languages as well, but her youngest brother from her father’s side can not.
Jennifer is fluent in the four languages she know how to speak; Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Cape Verdean and is learning more and more about them each day.