Personal Narrative: My Life Being Bilingual

Patricia Gándara writes about the crippling segregation within our modern school system for Latino students in her essay Overcoming Triple Segregation. She examines the Latin American’s struggle for education by pointing out how not only are they segregated racially; but socioeconomically and linguistically. Gándara states that segregation towards Latinos will result small amounts of academic success and fewer citizens entering the workforce. Then the article takes a turn to advocate the use of bilingual classrooms, stating that by assimilating them into our culture, they will be able to become successful future contributing members of society. Gándara states that Latinos are forced to overcome the racial hostility placed before them, a lack

Today it isn’t difficult for a Chicanx or other minority to get a degree or create a prosperous life for themselves through hard work, but back in the mid-1900s, that was not the case. The American Southwest in the mid-1900s was not the most inviting or friendliest place for Mexicans and Chicanos. Many were born into extreme poverty or already came impoverished, many were degraded and sometimes dehumanized by racism, and many felt like they did not belong in the land of the free. Often times, young Mexicans and Chicanos had no choice. They had to resort to roaming the streets, doing drugs, committing crimes, and joining gangs in order to feel like they belonged and to give meaning to their lives. In his memoir Always Running, Luis Rodriguez tells the story of how he was

Richard Rodriguez, author of “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” grew up speaking Spanish at home for the beginning of his life, and having the great connection with family that most hope for during their lifetime. This all suddenly changed when he entered school. Starting at a young age, Richard was surrounded by all English-speaking people that he could not communicate well with. The only instances where English would be would have been during public outings, and interaction with others. At home, his parents also struggled to speak English making the situation even harder on Richard. Fortunately, Richard had encouraging teachers jumpstarted his English learning curriculum so he would be better equip to interact within his community. As he started becoming more and more fluent in English, his native Spanish language started to drift. Richard began to realize that the connection at home slowly dwindled away as he was increasing his English speaking at school. Richard began to sense a lack of safety in his own home. His involvement in public conversation; using his newly learned language, effected his life so much to the point where he had to choose between

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

My parents moved from Colombia to the United States before I was born. I am apart of the first generation in my family that was born here. My parents moved with the single hope of giving me a better life with more opportunities. Having this background has definitely impacted my life in both trivial and meaningful ways. For instance, my father not being able to break through the language barrier has been an integral part of my lifestyle. He has been living in this country for a while now, but has never picked up English fluently. This led me to become his translator for as long as I can remember. Even today I accompany him to his workplace to help close deals and talk to contractors. This was but one of many examples of how my Hispanic background

Racial stigmas and stereotypes have negative effects on a multitude of ethnic groups. Across our nation, members of numerous races experience difficulties surrounding their identity and inability to refine their English dialects. Anna Marie Quindlen, an American author, journalist, and New York Times columnist, once said, “Ethnic stereotypes are misshapen pearls, sometimes with a sandy grain of truth at their center...but they ignore complexity, change, and individuality”. Quindlen’s viewpoint is skillfully displayed in “Mother Tongue”, a first person narration by an Asian-American woman, Amy Tan. The obstacles she encountered based on her mother’s struggle with English significantly affected their identities in our society. Overall, it is

El Paso is a very culturally diverse city that borders, its sister city, Juarez. The

The world is filled with people, and like snowflakes, each person is not the same as another. Each person identifies with different aspects of their lives to create their own personal identities. I personally identify with my Italian side of my family to help form who I am today. I have found myself connecting with this side more so than the other parts of my identity. It affects how I live my life by becoming the center to the culture surrounding me. However, my ethnic identity as an Italian American also influences how I live when it comes to my religion, and how my religion affects my life alongside my ethnicity. I will expand on this issue on how I express my ethnic and religious identity in regards to each other.

About four years ago I arrived at Logan airport, Boston Massachusetts. Once the plane landed I felt excited to explore a new country that looked beautiful from the planes window, but I was also confused because everything was different from home and I had no idea where to go. Although I thought that was the hard part, there was way more obstacles coming my way such as language and culture among others which I had to learn fast.

In the essay “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez. The author uses his memoir to show how he has fought through his childhood to understand English and how the english language had formed his identity. To him, Spanish was a private language, spoken only at home and in the comforting presence of his family. The Spanish language allowed him to connect with his parents because that was all they knew. However, After he was somewhat forced to speak English by the public, he became an outsider to his own culture, unable to speak Spanish, but still able to understand it as it states “we remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No long so close..,” (330). Consequently, this caused Rodriguez to lose his cultural

The culture is so rich and beautiful that it hurts to see a Hmong child not being able to speak Hmong. You identify yourself as Hmong; you are Hmong-American, but you can’t speak the language. I am ashamed that the parents of the child didn’t teach their children the language. The Hmong writing system is almost gone where only few elders know them. We were given the English alphabet and borrow that writing system from Americans. It saddens me that the English alphabet is the only form of Hmong I know how to write and I won’t ever be able to learn my culture’s true writing system. I

home and school. In addition, another example of amplification can be shown in the following

The importance of language skills and the ability to communicate and interact with the surrounding environment is critical in the early stages of development in a child. Communication and social skills, along with learning and expressing themselves in order to interact, is highly important during the developmental period in a child’s life. These critical issues have induced the interest and concerns by both parents and researchers to explore and study the effects of bilingualism. In this paper, we will take a look at the most common myths and misunderstandings about bilingualism. Today, there are many parents who still believe that learning multiple languages can cause language delay and low intelligence due to the misunderstanding

Bilingualism is slowly becoming a popular “trend”. Those who are able to speak a second language at an advanced level and not only, are clearly considered by the society intellectually capable of great things. As a bilingual, the individual must not only know the grammar rules or achieve a high level in communication. He also has to study the cultural background of that specific language. Knowing a second language has a major impact on one’s life. It does not only change his vision on the world, and other cultures, but it also affects his internal psychology, his emotional side which influences furthermore his relationships with other people: relatives, friends and strangers.

Languages and interactions are two principal concepts in present days. Being master in using and perceiving the modern methods of communications at works furnishes us with intellectual tools which we cannot afford to reject. With the expanding of organizations in the world and working internationally the needs of understanding other cultures and new ways of dealing with others become a key aspect of competitive advantages for any organization. Any organization regarding to meet its objectives and goals; assigns some written or not written norms, values, culture and behavioural patterns which should be understood and pursued by all the co-workers. This will create an employer image in labour market locally as well as in the international business market. Moreover, once a person starts working in any organization he or she will acquire a belonging feeling to that specific professional community. This professional community follows set of practices, specific knowledge and common values, hence creates discourse community that plays an essential role. However, spoken and written communication methods at work either among colleagues or between a professional member and lay people possesses unique