About 30 years ago, I left Cuba for the United States with my son. After getting settled finally in Brunswick, New Jersey, I enrolled(注册) my son in kindergarten. Several weeks later, my son’s teacher asked me to meet him at his office.

In the teacher’s office, and exchange of greetings was followed by his questions: “ Is your son mentally retarded(弱智的)? Does he suffer from any kind of mental disability?”

Was he talking about my wonderful Scola? No, no, it can’t be. What a helpless, lonely moment! I told him that Scola was a quiet, sweet little boy, instead. I asked him why he was asking me all these questions.

My son could not follow the teacher’s directions, he told me, and thus, Scola was disrupting

the class. Didn’t he know my son did not speak English yet? He was angry: “ Why hasn’t your son been taught to speak English? Don’t you speak English at home?”

No, I didn’t speak English at home, I replied. I was sure my son would learn English in a couple of months, and I didn’t want him to forget his native language. Well, wrong answer!

What kind of person would not speak in English to her son at home and at all times? “ Are you one of those people who come to this country to save dollars and sent them back to their country, never wanting to be a part of this society?”

Needless to say, I tried to tell him I was not one of “ those people.” Then he told me the meeting was over, and I left.

As I had expected, my son learned to speak English fluently before the school year was over. He went on to graduate from college and got a job, earning close to six figures. He travels widely and leads a well-adjusted, contented life. And he has benefited from being bilingual(双语的)。

Speaking more than one language allows people to communicate with others; it teaches people about other cultures and other places- something very basic and obviously lacking in the “educator” I met in New Jersey.

A book called The Power of Language explores influences of speaking more than one language on the way people think and act.

Language plays a significant role in all aspects of human social and cognitive（认知的）life. People communicate with each other in a language. The language people speak also influences the way they think. These effects become even more complex when people speak more than one language.

If you speak more than one language, chances are you use them in different situations. You may speak one language at home and another at work. If you are asked to think about something fun in the language you speak at home, you are more likely to think of an event with your family, but when asked in the language you speak at work, you will think of an enjoyable interaction with colleagues.

The language used to answer the question makes it easier to think of memories associated with using that language. The memories you are reminded of in a situation affect what you are likely to do and even how you are likely to feel in that situation.

In addition, properties of the language can affect your decisions. In the book, the writer points out that some languages（like English）require you to use different tenses when talking about events in the present and the future. Other languages（like German and Chinese）do not. Existing evidence suggests that people who speak languages whose grammar uses a different tense between present and future are less likely to make choices that benefit their future selves than people who speak languages that do not. Consequently, the actions you take when speaking different languages can have very different influences on your future.

Buttons are found on all sorts of clothing. They are usually small and round and made of metal or plastic. They fasten, or connect, one piece of clothing to another. They make sure your clothes don’t fall off. When we are speaking or writing in English, buttons can be just as useful.

Men or women often wear button-down clothes to the office. Button-down as an adjective means to be conservative(保守的) or traditional. People who are described as buttoned-down stay close as possible to the normal way of dressing and behaving. They don’t wear crazy clothing or do unusual things. People and events can both be described as buttoned-down.

If someone is buttoned-up, he or she seems very business-like. In personal relationships, a buttoned-up person is cold and standoffish, meaning they physically and emotionally keep away from others. Buttoned-up people are not warm or friendly. And they do not share their inner thoughts and feelings with others.

In the expression “button up”, button is a verb. It means to stop talking. Now, let’s say you find yourself buttonholed in a conversation at a party. The person just keeps talking and talking and talking! Finally, you can’t take it any longer. You tell the person to button it! This is a direct, but unacceptable way of saying “stop talking”. Button you lip is another equally rude but effective to stop a person who talks too much.

Another kind of difficult person is someone who pushes your buttons. To push someone’s buttons means to know exactly how to get that person angry or upset. People who like to push other people’s buttons usually do it for selfish reasons. First they find a person’s weak point. Then they use it to upset him.