Richard Rodriguez's Ari Memoir Of A Bilingual Childhood

We all have some form of language limitations, no matter where we come from and what our background is. “Mother tongue” by Amy Tan and “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua both share similar themes in their stories that demonstrate how they both deal with how different forms of the same language are portrayed in society. In both stories they speak about what society declares the right way of speech and having to face prejudgment, the two authors share their personal experiences of how they’ve dealt with it. Both authors go in detail about their ethnic backgrounds and blend their language for us to better understand throughout their story.

“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. Unable to pay the bail money, he is once again behind the bars. One night while moping the floor,

growing up in a household that chiefly spoke “broken” English, and a reflection on how this

In the article, ”My English” by Julia Alvarez, the author wrote about her experience as she learn to speak English. Spanish was her mother tongue and struggled to speak English in the early phases. She thought that English was a form of Spanish, as there are different dialects in Spanish. Her parents spoke English when they didn’t want her and her siblings to know what was going on. He was curious about what they were talking about and tries to interpret the meaning form the facial expressions her mother made. She started learning English at Carol Morgan school and it was strange for her to see the American people and their appearances which differ from her. She got mixed up with Spanish and English as she starts to learn English.

The silence is a transition period, where the immigrants find their new voice that they can use confidently in their new society. During this time, immigrants would stop using their native language and just do their best to use the new one. As a result from them doing that, their use and understanding of the language increases, and their confidence to use what they know grows. Rodriguez went through a phase similar to what was just mentioned. When Rodriguez was young, he would speak in English in school or in stores near his house, and when Rodriguez would get home from school he would speak Spanish (72). Rodriguez’s English was not the best, and because of that he would either be silent or quietly mumble when asked to participate by one of the nuns (73). Since his lack of participation was noticeable and showed little progress, some of his teachers visited Rodriguez’s home to ask his parents to “encourage your children to practice their English when they are home?” (73). Rodriguez one day walks in on his parents speaking Spanish, but when they see him they switch to English, which offends and over the days that follows angers him enough to decide to seriously learn English. Rodriguez even willingly decides to participate in class (74). Rodriguez would speak English in school because to him it was a “public language”, while Spanish was a “private language” (72). Rodriguez

“Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan is the short story about the importance of language and how it is a key for communication. Tan emigrated from China to Oakland, California and she was a first generation of Asian-American. The author is very fascinated by the language and she believes that the language has the power of emotions, a visual image, a complex idea, and a simple truth. She also believes that there are many different types of “Englishes”.

The film “Speaking in Tongues” (2010) obtained the students, parents, and communities perspective towards bilingual education. The students interviewed were all mainly towards learning how to speak a second language. The students felt they could benefit in learning a second language or in expanding their home language. In the film, Kelly Wong stated she loved speaking Chinese to her grandmother. Kelly could practice, learn, and get corrected by her grandmother while speaking Chinese. The parent’s perspective towards bilingual education was like the student’s opinions because both individuals felt immersion classrooms benefit the students and the parents. The father of Jason was proud his son was the first in his family to read, write, and speak in English. Jason’s father knew his son would have many career opportunities by learning English at school. Learning the English academic language was not the only proud language Jason’s father encouraged for Jason to learn but also the Spanish language as well. Jason’s father only speaks Spanish so if his son was to lose his home language, a language barrier would form between father and son. To prevent the language barrier Jason’s father encouraged a bilingual immersion

Marquez also warms the audience’s hearts knowing she speaks her natural tongue as respect to her family, playing into the pathos appeal. In, When and Where We Speak Spanish, Marquez does not write using the logos appeal, but mainly writes telling her story on why she continues to speak her natural tongue while living in America.

Language, in the simplest sense is a way to communicate with others, but more than that, language is way that I can express myself and my thoughts, which is why it's so important. It’s a reflection of who I am and where I came from. In How to Tame a Wild Tongue, Anzaldua explains that Chicano Spanish is a boarder tongue that “sprang out of the Chicanos’ need to identify ourselves as a distinct people.” (Cohen, 2017, p. 36) In Mother Tongue, Tan talks about how her mother’s “broken” English is their “language of intimacy, ... that relates to family talk. The language I grew up with.” (Cohen, 2017, p. 416.) Looking at theses essays, it’s clear that language isn’t just a way to communicate it’s an important part of my identity and culture.

In Sandra Cisneros “Mericans” she creates a young character named Michelle who faces cultural differences and nonunderstanding, gender roles and culture stereotyping which can be exhibited in the real world.

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. Barrientos stated; “If I stayed away from Spanish, stereotypes would stay away from me.”(Barrientos 646) She knew even as a young child that people around her pegged their family as “Mexican”, which would mean inferior. She wanted to feel white so she could fit into society. Today, America teaches languages in schools. They want children to be bilingual because there are more opportunities in the world for people who speak multiple languages. However, stereotypes still exist and are very common in a lot of areas. Where I come from, people speak in a Southern accent. People tend

Everyday, people all around the world are migrating from their home country to a new first world country for a better life for themselves and their children. The reasons as to which they migrate can be classified as social, economic, or political issues that push them to seek a healthier environment. Although immigrants are finding new lives in other countries, it facilitates the loss of familiarity with their native culture. The young immigrant children that move or are born in their non-native countries sometimes never get the chance to experience the ethnic background that their parents grew up with. Therefore, the lack of familiarity with a child's native background fosters global social issues such as the negative impact it has on future

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

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

The Language Culture and Society programme provides us with strong theoretical and interdisciplinary foundation for the study of a range of educational practices across the human lifespan and in a range of theoretical and methodological perspective is brought to bear on studies that explore the nature of literate practices, democracy and civic engagement and participation in social life. The programme focuses on relationships between education school and the dynamics and changing structures of language, culture, and society. It examines connection between broader, social, cultural, linguistic, historical, aesthetic and political factors in education and the local context in which these issues take place.