My understanding of Coming into Language “Coming into Language” is a book by Jimmy Santiago Baca, that talks about the struggles he had to face as a young illiterate Hispanic male. As a “Chicano”, he had to deal with prejudice from an early life and as a result, had frequent run-ins with the police. At the age of seventeen he was arrested as a murder suspect because he refused to explain how he got a gash on his arm. While he is in prison, awaiting trial, he listens to other prisoners reading out loud and that is when he starts appreciating written language. Two years later, he is again behind the bars facing drug charges and a million-dollar bail.
The joke Blumenfeld told makes the reader think twice about English being the only official language of the United States, and their stance on it. The joke is a view of the United States from people in other parts of the world, and this may make an American question whether he or she wants to be seen that way, basically belittled because the U.S. has only one official language. Blumenfeld tells a story about his Mexican friend, who is fluent in English, said a phrase in Spanish during recess when he was in elementary school. A teacher overheard him and brought him to the principal’s office where was forced into “Spanish detention.” His friend’s experience of being bullied and punished for speaking Spanish makes any reader who’s first language isn’t English feel uneasy.
(Garcia, 2013). So I agree with this, children in order to be accepted in the culture of the country they are living they choose to speak only English, to feel part of the
In the essay “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” (1981), Richard Rodriguez, an experienced writer, expressed that “…it is not possible to for a child – any child – ever to use his family’s language in school” and began expressing his past experiences with bilingualism (510). Rodriguez recollects his feelings toward the accents he has listened to throughout his childhood, his “disabling confusion” from gaining fluency in English and Spanish, and the intimacy passing between sounds and words (519). By implementing his personal experiences, he entices his reader into reading actively in order to express how confusing, yet beneficial bilingualism can be. Rodriguez’s audience is focused to those who can relate when using more than one language
That is why Filemon Lopez, who is part of the Benito Juarez Civic Association states that they are working hard to teach the Mixtecs their rights, about the importance of health, housing but overall of education. Even in the Madera school district, the importance of education is being advocated for, for teachers such as Carmen Hernandez states that it is important that both children like adults learn both Spanish and English, so that they can later be able to function in an English speaking society, but also so that they can keep their language and their pride in their background. Such as in the lecture about linguistic anthropology lecture that we went over in class, where it was explained that for the most part once English was learned that native languages were used less and less then forgotten, for only a subset of the population usually those who are older are the only ones who maintain the language going until they are gone. That is why Carmen emphasizes the importance of providing bilingual classes for Mixtec adults and children. So that in the future as Apuleyo Guzman states, that he hopes to learn more English so that he can get a better job so that e can get a better job, so that he can better provided for his family and his village, yet also still has his culture, his language and his ties to
The Young Lords Movement is national movement that allowed Bodega to obtain the favor of Spanish Harlem easily because of its failures. The Young Lords movement was a Puerto Rican civil rights movement in the 1960’s that implemented violence to obtain recognition and equality as Puerto Ricans and better living conditions within their communities in New York and Chicago. As the Young Lords Party, the branch in New York, became increasingly involved in using armed movements and guerrilla tactics to make a stance in America, they ultimately reached their downfall. The new movement that Bodega inspires, however, is not one that uses weaponry to make proclamations about Nuyoricans to the outside world but one that restores the barrio from within
My Rhetorical Analysis Language is a part one’s identity and culture, which allows one to communicate with those of the same group, although when spoken to someone of another group, it can cause a language barrier or miscommunication in many different ways. In Gloria Anzaldua’s article, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, which was taken from her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, she is trying to inform her readers that her language is what defines her. She began to mention how she was being criticized by both English and Spanish Speakers, although they both make up who she is as a person. Then, she gave convincing personal experiences about how it was to be a Chicana and their different types of languages. Moreover, despite the fact that her language was considered illegitimate, Anzaldua made it clear that she cannot get rid of it until the day she dies, or as she states (on page 26) “Wild tongues can’t be, they can only be cut out.”
Even though I am Mexican I never had to speak Spanish because
English and Spanish, the two dogs in this analogy, are the two cultures he nurtures and adores. Despite one culture being more dominant over the other, they are still two different parts of his identity that he must take care of. Compared to Espada’s essay, Rodriguez seems to approach the definition of bilingualism from a completely different perspective. Rodriguez sees bilingualism as a connection to one’s public identity. He mentions his definition near the beginning of his essay, where Rodriguez talks about how his previous non-bilingual self would have been pleased if the teachers had spoken Spanish.
He came home from school one day, his parents were talking. It wasn’t until after they had switched to English that he realized they had been speaking Spanish. Now you would think having been born to English speaking parents, here in the United States, that I wouldn’t understand a language barrier. Growing up I watched my cousin struggle to communicate with others. He lost his hearing when he was 5 years old.
Identity Crisis In “Se Habla Espanol” by Tanya Maria Barrientos, speaking multiple languages at the time of Barrientos being a child, was not perceived as a bonus on your job application. When she was just three years old she was moved to the states and her parents completely stopped using Spanish and taught their children English. They did this in order to provide a better education for their children in America. They knew that if they spoke Spanish, they would be perceived as poor individuals.
However, those who aren’t bilingual and hear others speak another language around them; even if they’re not talking to them say that it is rude. As mentioned in the prompt Myriam says “It’s not meant to be rude to others.” That only states that when Spanish speakers are talking with one another it’s not to make other people feel uncomfortable or to be rude to them. Though, it’s the only way that the Spanish speaker will understand if they’re not bilingual. There may be situations where students talk to their parents in Spanish, not because they know others won’t understand but because it’s a form of respect towards their
Gloria is using Spanish and English, we could also call it Spanglish, within these sentences, which is a mixture of English and Spanish. She is switching between the two explaining how Latina and Chicana’s speak Spanish and English to communicate in different ways. The languages that people speak are different to everyone even if they are speaking the same language. Language is a part of how someone identifies
There are two type of families. There is one family that speak only English and the other one that speak their home language and English in their household. Those type of families that speak two or more languages in their household are mostly immigrants that move to the United States. Their child or children will grow up speaking perfect English while their parents will speak poor English. In Amy Tan “Mother Tongue”, she talks about how without proper English it is sometimes difficult to get through daily life.
“When I was 18 I was drugged and date raped. I just remember waking up with the guy on top of me with this weird grin. I didn’t think about the baby. I had to save up money, so I had to wait for the very last possible week. My best friend drove me.
