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Analysis Of The New Bathroom Policy At English High School By Espada

1133 Words5 Pages

Espada is a Spanish speaker forced to speak English. Rodriguez is also a Spanish speaker forced to speak English. I am an English speaker that isn’t forced to speak Spanish. Fair? Not so much. The definition of bilingualism is fluency in or use of two languages. Martín Espada is the author of the essay “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School” which is about the act of Spanish being a forbidden language in a school full of multicultural children. In the essay, his main argument is the idea that the language of Spanish, or Bilingualism as a whole is interpreted as a burden for a young immigrant. Another author named Richard Rodriguez wrote about his struggle to juggle between his 2 languages, his public language (English) and his private …show more content…

Throughout his text, he explains that he felt uncomfortable at school knowing he would have to speak this language that didn't connect to his identity. A significant quote from his text is “At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth; I was an American citizen (Rodriguez 120-122).” This quote means that after having to learn English and somewhat feeling secure with it, he imagined the truth of being American. Another important selection that stands out to me is “But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then (Rodriguez 123-125).” The reason why this quote is so important is given the fact once he felt further comfortable with English, he lost that connection with his family through Spanish. At the end of his excerpt, he speaks on the loss of family dynamic, he never “rushed home after school anymore.” Spanish was the main principal in his family, and after being forced to brush off the Spanish language, his family was troubled. Rodriguez wants his readers to know that the issue wasn’t the setbacks in learning English but the setbacks in his loving family. This is an important aspect of bilingualism for American society to understand because no brave soul decided they wanted to speak on it. Me, I can because I haven’t had to endure such pain. But many humans have and we can’t keep pretending they …show more content…

One reason is that he learned English at a young age, but he knew Spanish when he was born. He explains it in a way of stripping a key part of your identity away without any explanation as to why. A second reason or example is that when he was able to advance in English he slowly lost the Spanish bond with his family. I hope all Americans can understand this so that they can allow people to live in their way, allowing people to speak the languages they want, practice the religions they please, and be content with their decisions. Putting pressure on people to act and feel the way you do will not help this civilization, it is destroying it. Apart from Espada or Rodriguez, I believe language is artistic, it’s lovely it’s engaging, and it’s a part of all of our lives. So stop trying to take that away for personal

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