The term translanguaging has received a great deal of attention in recent years in applied linguistics. Originally coined to describe a bilingual pedagogical approach Ofelia García extended the definition to encompass the multiple discursive practices of bilingual communities. This broader definition has been taken up in many different ways by scholars seeking to challenge dominant conceptualizations of bi/multilingualism. In this article, I describe the ways that translanguaging offered me a point of entry for better understanding my own experiences as a US Latino. In addition, I discuss how it has equipped me with theoretical tools for speaking back to the deficit perspectives that I inflicted on my students as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. I then trace the ways that these theoretical tools eventually led me to develop a research agenda, which point to the raciolinguistic ideologies that lie at the core of these deficit perspectives.