In Our Words: José's Life in Mexico and Pre-College Education The family initially settled in Tampico. José reputedly did not speak until age four, when he uttered the complete sentence, “I want chalk” in Yiddish. The family used many languages in their home (Spanish, English, Russian, and Yiddish), likely the reason for his delayed speech. They moved to Monterrey and then Pachuca, where José attended elementary through junior high school. Based on his exceptional academic performance, José skipped multiple grades and became the youngest in his class. In 1936, the family moved to Mexico City, where José attended high school at the Secondario Numero Uno. He made deep friendships with his classmates, and maintained these throughout his life. When José was almost 13 years old, his brother, Mario, was born in District Federal, Mexico City. During these years José also worked as an assistant in Diego Rivera’s studio. He and other assistants painted the background colors for murals according to Rivera’s instructions in advance of Diego Rivera completing them. José completed high school in 1938 at age 15. Despite the family being deeply committed to education, Rachel insisted that her sons each learn a trade, so José studied bookbinding.