Living In Spanglish Analysis

One key theme of Dominicanish is the difficulty of communication. In other words, the difficulties of learning a new language and the obstacle of being of darker complexion. In Dominicanish, by Josefine Baez, she expresses her opinion of pronouncing in English. Baez states, “GOSH to pronounce one little phrase one must become another person with the mouth all twisted Yo no voy a poner la boca asi como un guante” (Baez 22). Josefine explains how her learning English require unusual mouth moment that made her look weird while doing it which she didn’t appreciate. Later on, when she understands better English she realizes, “when appearance cannot distract you anymore, then comes knowledge; then comes complete discrimination of the real and the

In addition, to discrimination faced for language, Josefine also talks about the discrimination of being black. She states “In the process they became turmeric yellow I Jet black … silence on color faces “ (Baez 37). She elucidates her new insight and understanding of the difference of her home setting being the Dominican Republic and of her new one in the United States. Nevertheless, in Ed Morales book “Living in Spanglish”, he talks about Spanglish, the new form of language created by the Spanish-speaking people who move to America. He speaks about the cons of being a Latino in America. In his chapter, “The Roots of Spanglish”, he states, ”The great majority of migrants and immigrants from Latin America and North America came from the lower classes, and tended to be of darker skin tone than elites of their origin countries. Second, their class standing tended to be fixed in Latin America and seemed to have more potential to change in North America, while their racial oppression, which was more subliminal in Latin America, became overt in U.S.” (Morales 32-33). Morales illustrates the difficulty of being not only of a darker complexion but of being a Latino in