Since a long time ago, each human being has been part of a discourse community. These communities were created in order to interact with other persons, who can have very different cultures, traditions, and even religions. But in order for a discourse community to exist, it needs to have an audience, conventions, instructors, and any type of communication. The communication is an essential part of any kind of community, because the person who is teaching it needs to transmit a message to the other people and without a good type of communication it cannot be accomplish. And some of the discourse communities I am part of are my family, college student, tennis player, and a confirmation member.

            Being part of a family is one of the most important discourse communities I am part of. It is conformed of my father, my mother, and one sister. This community is very important for me because the persons in my family are always looking for good and positive things for me. Therefore when I am in any kind of trouble or having a rough time, they are the ones who help me get up and keep going forward. The media used in this community is the Spanish language, because my parents speak very few English. There are few rules at home, just to be respectful with all the members of the family and always listen to what others have to say without interrupting them. And in order to be part of this community you need to be born, married, or even adopted into a family.

            This is my first semester as a college student, and it has only passed two weeks, so I do not have too much to say about this community. Although in these few days I have enjoyed college a lot and I had the opportunity to make new friends and get to know my teachers, who by the way are very good people. College has many conventions, but the most important ones would be to never disrespect anyone and to go to class, as a sign of formality and respect to your instructors.

            I have been part of the tennis discourse community for almost six years, and every time I go to play, I enjoy it to the maximum. Playing this sport makes me really happy, because I feel free all the time, like I can do whatever I want with the ball. Also it relaxes me, because it makes me forget all the homework, tests, or assignments I need to do. But in order to join this community the person must know the rules of the sport, as well as have the correct equipment to play it. Such as a tennis racquet, tennis balls, and it requires special tennis shoes, in order to avoid damage to the court, especially if it is a grass or clay court. Some specialized language that we use is like “va”, which means here it goes, and it is used to make the other player realize that he or she is serving. And it is very simple to join this community, because as long as you have the equipment, the only thing you need is motivation.

            Then once a week I am part of the confirmation discourse community, which consists in reinforcing and confirming the faith for your religion. The people attending this community are Catholics or Christians, but of course there are different types of confirmations depending on the religion. The rules in this community are very simple, is to always be respectful to others, whether they think different than you or not, and be formal to your instructors. In this community there is no specialized language it is just simple Spanish. And in order to become part of this community one must have faith and practice a religion.

            These four discourse communities have made a very big impact on my life and on the ones that surround me. Because they have thought me several values, as well as helping me to become the young boy that I am now. Every person is part of a discourse community, but sometimes they do not realize it. And it is a great way to interact with people of different cultures and traditions.