Latina And Hispanic Language Barriers

How are Hispanics getting help with English and what obstacles or barriers are they facing? That is an extremely good question. Everyday, more and more Hispanics are making a move to the United States in hopes of a better life. The only problem is that many of them can not speak any English at all. Since the United States is basically an English speaking nation, it is important that Hispanics learn English to be able to adjust to life within the United States. But, that is easier said than done because it is not easy to get Hispanics the help that they need in learning English. There have to be people who are willing to tutor and fund programs. Of course, there are always obstacles or barriers that stands in the way of progress.

Growing up in a Hispanic household has shaped and built my values in life. At Appleton North High School, I am one out of the few Hispanic students. Knowing that my parents have migrated to America to give me a better future has motivated me to make it happen. Although, as a Mexican-American, I have felt out of place as a minority. However, with time I learned to accept my cultural differences. In fact, to this day, I thank my widowed father for the sacrifices and greater opportunities he has given me. My goal is to keep representing the few Hispanic students in college by working hard to achieve my career goals; not all Hispanics are fortunate enough to attend college. I also work to inspire young Hispanics to find their potential and follow

The term Hispanic means people who come from a country where Spanish is spoken. And the term Latino means someone who comes from Latin America.

Hispanics or Latinos are defined as a people of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish speaking culture. This term “Hispanics” was created by the U.S. federal government in the early 1970’s to refer to Americans born in a Spanish speaking nation or with ancestry to Spanish territories. Hispanics people are vibrant, socializing, and fun loving people. Among various facts associated to this culture is that they have a deep sense of involvement in their family traditions and cultures.

In this day and age we as a community are learning the appropriate terms to use to describe a person. For example, the difference of a person who identifies as pansexual versus someone who is asexual. Sadly, we continue to be uneducated between two terms, unaware that they are in fact different from one another. Even though the terms Latino and Hispanic have similar culture, they are opposite from one another by their mother tongue to geographical location.Firstly, it is understandable why the titles of Latino and Hispanic is spoken interchangeably due to their similar cultures. An example of the Latino and Hispanic community shared culture is religion. Reports done by Nabil Yafai from Inter Exchange states, “...majority of Hispanic and

Mexican Americans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and El Salvadorians are just to name few who are parts of the Hispanic group. Each and every one of these groups shares many part of their Hispanic culture with one another but also vary in distinct ways. They all share the Spanish language, though each has a different dialect and some words spelled and pronounced the

Many people immigrate to the United States from different countries to begin a better life. Once in the American territory, the first step for success is to learn the English language. Richard Rodriguez, the writer of "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood" describes the language decisions he faced as a child: "Outside the house was public society; inside the house was private" (16). The English language is the primary language in the United States, and it must be learned to be able to communicate with the public world. The language that we speak at home is considered to be private because it is only used in the presence of the people we feel comfortable with, our family. Families immigrate to

Being Hispanic is being able to enjoy and demolish your mom’s tamales at Christmas. Being Hispanic is also being able to explain horchata to your friends and watch soccer games with your family. It’s being able to be proud of your culture and roots. However, being Hispanic is living in fear. Being Hispanic means sometimes you don’t know if your parents will come home from work. It’s being petrified that your dad may get pulled over because he is driving without a license. Being Hispanic is seeing your mom come home, tired from a low paying job, because she could not pursue an education. Hispanic means working hard in life to make your parents proud, to make all the looks of discrimination worth it. Being Hispanic is also being told “no” repeatedly,

First of all, let’s exchange the term Latino for a much more geographical one; to include as many people as possible. The word Ibero-America is widely used when referring to Latin America in a geographical manner: It encompasses any country that once was a territory of Portugal of Spain regardless of their language. There are more than 800 different native languages in Ibero-America. Saying Latino or Hispanic excludes these ethnic groups. According to the anthropologist Jose Matos Mar, They include the Totonaco (with around 200.000 that live exclusively in México and speak 11 languages) and the Mayans (which inhabit Mexico and Guatemala constituting the larges indigenous group of the region with 6,500.000 members that speak more than 68 languages) (1993 pp. 155-234). Now, we focus on the way Ibero-Americans see each other. Francisco Lizcano Fernandez talks about sixth main ethnical categories, including indigenous

2. Latino – Is a broad term that closely resembles the term Hispanic with the incorporation of Latin American populations of South America. Other Countries and populations of Central America might also describe themselves as Latin American.

There is a significant difference between Latinos and Hispanics, but they are also exceedingly closely related. It is important to remember that these terms refer to ethnicity, not race. Latinos and Hispanics are two different words that may or may not mean the same thing. Some people say Hispanics are those descending from Spain and speak Spanish. Others say it is not the same because Latinos include people from Latin American countries. Since this would include non-Spanish speaking countries it is not the same as Hispanic. So technically speaking you can be one without the other but a person can also be both.

Latinos come in various pigmentations. Americans have a hard time classifying Latino minorities because the American society is based on race and not ethnicity. For the most part, it is easy to organize white people, because they tend to lump themselves together to form their one culture and identify as white. In the case of African Americans or black people, they tend to experience the same kind of lumping together of culture to form one racial group because they are 300 years removed from their native African culture because of slavery. With these two prominent groups of people in the United States, it is hard to classify a Latino person because a lot have grown up with their own culture and possibly not even in America. A person from Mexico has a different culture than that of someone from Spain. It may even come down to the dialects that they may speak that can cause them to separate themselves into a different ethnic group. Even with prominence politically and culturally having an impact in the United States, Latinos still get unfairly categorized, which is why ethnicity is the best choice of categorization.

The question I was assigned is, “What barriers are preventing Latinos from seeking help?” In class we discussed homelessness and everyone came up with different questions. I have to compare my question with the barriers that homeless Latinos face in seeking help. The articles that I found to compare are about domestic violence, machismo, immigrants, and health issues.

The terms Latino and Hispanic have always been misunderstood by the vast majority of the people and might result some what confusing. Many individuals misinterpret these two terms and believe the idea that latinos and hispanics have the same significance and come together to the conclusion that latinos and hispanics are synonyms for both. In fact, there is a huge gap between those who are latinos and those who are hispanics. I believe that what differentiates a latino from a hispanic and vice-versa is the language and the geography of the country.

When defining what it means to be Hispanic and how it has influenced my life, it means more than just having the family origins beginning from one the Spanish speaking countries. In my experience, Hispanic are usually people who are very conscientious about work, are traditionalist, passionate, and incredibly family oriented. Spending my summer and winter breaks traveling in Mexico, it a fulfilling opportunity to reunite with my family and about learn about my bygone family lineage.