In the writing Aria, Richard Rodriguez uses his personal experiences to argue that
it is very difficult understanding bilingualism, especially as a child. Rodrigues remembers
feeling as if Spanish was some sort of private language that he could speak at
home with his family and friends. On the other hand, English was a public
language, something he had to learn in order to make it through school.
Rodriguez wishes that someone, especially a teacher, would have made him feel
welcome by trying to understand and call him by his native language. This lack
of understanding from his teachers left him to slowly slip behind socially and
scholastically. Like all parents, his wanted the best for him and agreed to
practice English at home with the family. However, this pushed him in the right
direction. He and his siblings became more publically independent. He spoke in
class and gained confidence in his ability. Rodriguez no longer felt that he
was an outsider and became “Americanized”.
On the
other hand, the silence Rodriguez had once experienced at school was now felt
at home because his parents did not understand all of the English that he had
learned. As he learned more English, he lost much of his Spanish words or
translations. It is interesting that Rodrigues points out that as the family
grew more divided, his father became more silent. He uses a story about his
father saying grace before meals in English wrong to highlight how embarrassing
it could feel to not fit in with the culture around you. The fact that from
then on the mother said prayer is interesting, as it changed the family roles.
As Rodrigues grew, he finally came to the realization and understanding that
there are two ways of individualization; private and public. Rodrigues feels
that although he lost some of his private individuality, he gained public
individuality by assimilating to the dominant culture.
Point to Share: I remember thinking it was cool having a bilingual friend. Maybe as educators we should encourage students to share their language and culture with their peers to make it feel less "weird".
Point to Share: I remember thinking it was cool having a bilingual friend. Maybe as educators we should encourage students to share their language and culture with their peers to make it feel less "weird".
i have to agree with you when you pointed out it was interesting that his family became divided once they stared to speak english! I could not believe that when I read that too!
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked when the nuns said to stop speaking Spanish altogether. I was very surprised that the family actually stopped. I would have thought that they would have either blown the nuns off and ignored them, or speak both English and Spanish in the household. I was saddened to see that learning a new language was such a terrible experience for the family. A Family should be able to have conversations all the time, not having to make small talk to be able to talk to your children.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Marissa and Nicole after reading your comment. Just because others may not want them speaking one language should not make the family stop. I think that is where they lost their family bond when the father would not continue to learn english. He should have been willing to learn the new language for at least his children's sake, but he truly only made it worse, which is very sad in my eyes.
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