Abu Jalloh Professor Murray Reading & Writing 29 October 2015 Anthony Rodriguez “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” Critique In the essay "Aria: A memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" by Richard Rodriguez, the reader learns about Rodriquez life that many have never experienced. He explains how he struggled understanding English throughout his childhood. He felt that speaking English would help him fit into society but with this he sacrifices his native language, his home life, and connection with his family, all to try to become a typical English-speaking student. Rodriguez argues the unnecessary …show more content…
Although it is necessary to learn the language of the region you are alien to, there’s a chance of losing one’s family background and heritage. People can maintain their own native culture with another. Many immigrants know the struggle Rodriguez is talking about, but they can say they’ve assimilated well without losing their family background or their culture. Immigrants like, Amy Tan author of “Mother Tongue” wrote in her essay that she liked math more than English because math had one answer but English, there are a lot more to it. Tan couldn’t speak English fluently. She was made fun of so, Tan wanted to learn English due to the stereotype said about Asians. She became an English major and eventually became a writer to prove that despite how she spoke, she could still master the English language. Tan believes that language spoken in immigrant families plays a huge role in creating a language for children and it will affect their lives in the future. Just like Rodriquez, Tan describes the language she spoke at home, which was “broken English” as a language of intimacy. She doesn’t notice when she is using it because it’s how she communicated with her mother and her family. Rodriguez felt like that with Spanish. He felt comfortable but as soon as he started being proficient in English he became distant. Tan writes her ability to both assimilate into the American culture but at the same time being able to communicate with the language at