Native Language Essay

All languages are important and realizing it will make you become a stronger, more diverse human being. We need take make an effort not only for ourselves but for other citizens living in the United States who don’t speak English; we need to make them feel welcomed into our country. Marjorie Agosín described that,”here in the United States, where I have lived since I was a young girl, the solitude of exile makes me feel that so little is mine, that not even the sky has the same constellations, the trees and the fauna the same names or sounds, or the rubbish the same smell. These are the dilemmas of one who writes in Spanish and lives in translation”(Agosin 599). Agosín has lived in the United States for quite some time now, yet still feels like she is living a life through “translation”. She should not feel this way, Agosin should feel apart of our country and feel as if she is a citizen. It is important for us to take a stand now to make language become apart of the curriculum within our school systems starting in Kindergarten, so that our children have a more diverse life filled with opportunities. One thing we know about the future for sure is that we will still have our knowledge about language, but it is how we use that knowledge that will depict how we will succeed in life and as a

Rodriguez offers a different standpoint on bilingualism, and an argument he presents is that one must be willing to give up part of their native ways when learning a language to fit into the public. Rodriguez considered Spanish a private language and English a public one. This perception made him reluctant to learn English, but at the same time, it motivated him to become a part of the public by learning its language. Rodriguez uses his family life as an example of his native identity. He was not an English speaker when he was young, but upon learning the language, he drifted away from his family, and describes it rather frankly: “I was an American citizen. But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then. . . . No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness . . . . When I arrived home there would often be

In her article “Why and When We Speak Spanish Among Ourselves in Public”, Marquez describes how speaking in her parent’s native language is a matter of respect and without a reason assumes that native English speakers will consider this rude in public environments. This brings two subjects to the table: the first being the wrong assumption, since the U.S tolerance for the use of other languages in all kinds of environments has become wider and wider, and second Marquez fails to realize that assimilation does not diminish the roots of one’s culture. Framing the context in her favor, Marquez expresses her disagreement on the preference of foreign immigrant’s descendants’ to use English rather than their “root” language. Just as Tan’s point of view, those descendants will develop their own life in the U.S not in the home country of their parents, therefore in the development of their tool making English a priority is understandable and isn’t a matter of disrespect or cultural

Martin Espada also argues that cultural aggression causes diversion amongst communities and Spanish speakers receive unfair treatments due to suspicion and fear from non-Spanish speaking people. Violence and bullying were often seen between communities of Spanish and Non-Spanish speakers. Between the communities of Spanish and Non-Spanish speakers the presence of violence and bullying lingered and effected the pEspada writes about one of his encounters with an angry man; “He can rip out my tongue if he wants. But it won't work because I speak Spanish with my heart.” (7). This aggression leads to hate and conflict between cultures in our community, however; Espada believes that bilingualism can unite and solve the conflict. Another reason a divide between groups is present that many non-Spanish speakers have superstition towards Spanish speakers. “Many Anglos assume that the only reason Latinos speak Spanish is to say diabolical things” (Page 8, Line 121). This fear of the Spanish language leads to a ban of Spanish at schools, a drive to make English the official language of Massachusetts, and other discriminant actions against

Currently, there are over 6,000 living languages spoken in the world. Even with these many languages spoken, people are still discriminated in America. Language is a part of many cultures and daily life, for example in Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue", Tan says "I've heard other terms used, 'limited English,' for example. But they seem as bad, as if everything is limited, including people's perceptions of the limited English speaker." Language should not be a border where people today are still treated as "broken".

Language is a very import part in our life, we carry it with us through all the steps, processes, moments experiences of our life, language built us and make us grow and the most important thing is that it grows with us, changes, modifies itself, and becomes more appropriate and specific. As we pointed out language help us to create and understand the world around us, gives meaning to everything and gives birth to emotions and feelings; a world without language would be meaningless and very lonely. Language it’s what help us grow up, the more we learn through it, the more we desire to experience and study in deep, leading us to new prospective, opening our mind to more specific and deep concepts, ideas, projects, goals. We really can’t

Not all people who speak the English language speak it the same way. It is very uncommon to find two people that speak the exact same English because there are so many different forms of the language. This is the argument that Amy Tan makes in her story, “Mother Tongue”. Tan uses pathos to portray to her audience how through her experiences with her mother and the Chinese language she came to realize who she wanted to be and how she wanted to write.

The fifteenth chapter of Susan Tamasi and Lamont Antieau’s Language and Linguistic Diversity in the US is titled “Official English.” This particular chapter briefly looks into the history of linguistic laws in the United States followed by an examination of whether or not the United States should have English as its official language. Tamasi and Antieau provide multiple convincing arguments for each side of this issue, which consists of those for English as the sole language of government and those against such a measure. Overall, however, there are many underlying beliefs and nonlinguistic concepts—like national identity and history, politics, and economics—related to language and its usage in America. First of all, Tamasi and Antieau debunk

However, in contrast to Espada’s claim about bilingualism, Rodriguez argues that, although uncomfortable and difficult, people need to learn the public language in order to effectively assimilate into society and have a public identity. He claims that he did not feel “American” until he was finally comfortable with English, when he says, “At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had technically been true since my birth: I was an American citizen” (121). Rodriguez is saying that before you can truly be a citizen, in all its definition, you must first be able to communicate in the language of the society. He also claims that the prominent language gives you a public identity in addition to your private language and identity

The essays, "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan and "Public and Private Language" by Richard Rodriguez are recollections of both of the author’s personal encounters and difficulties with the gap that was created between their families by differences in languages. These two writers grew up with bilingual families, in which English was not the primary language. Consequently, they had a hard time accepting and understanding the issues surrounding the different languages they spoke with their families at home, and within society. Because of this, the gap between their public and private languages that had been created through the introduction of a second language slowly grew larger, and eventually impacted their relationships with their family and caused them to view them in a different light. In their writing, Both Tan and Rodriguez reflect on their personal experiences and memories and illuminate the effects that a private language can have on various aspects of life.

Approximately 37 million people speak both English and Spanish in the United States and have experienced a feeling of discrimination or rejection. Richard Rodriguez’s memoir called “Aria: A Memoir Of A Bilingual Childhood” demonstrates this with a personal experience. This memoir was taken from the book “Hunger Of Memory” which was originally published in “1982”. The events in this memoir occur specifically in the 1900s, when the author was a young boy, entering an American school for the first time. One of the main issues displayed in his memoir is when Rodriguez recalls being labeled as a “problem student” being a Hispanic-American student in an all-white school. Another issue displayed in this memoir is the difficulties he had had to learn English meantime he felt more comfortable with Spanish. Being discriminated and not being able to adapt to two different languages is a struggle more than half of the world deals with. This is truly a serious issue because this could potentially be the origin of socially feeling uncomfortable. The purpose of this memoir was to tell the reader that individuality can come from both one's private and public communities, but that does not mean that one loses himself. The audience attracted to this memoir are foreigners in America. This memoir is directed to immigrants and other foreign people who have experienced the same difficulty of learning a new public language in America.

| Cooing can begin as early as 6 weeks of age. During this time the infant child begins to explore and play with sounds by using the tongue, mouth and breath. During this time, the child is likely to form vowel like sounds before constants sounds begin to be established.

Why should people nowadays see languages as a big prize? A person speaks more languages have more opportunities are skewed to him because he benefits the profit comparing to a person who speaks only one standard language. It is time for globalization and its effects on children for speaking other languages as a must. In two articles “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” by Richard Rodriguez and “Whose Voice Is It Anyway?” by Victor Villanueva, the two authors both expressed their opinions on native language and how the assimilation impacts a child. However, Rodriguez believed that the assimilation was beneficial for him as he had grown up in the English-speaking world and he disliked bilingual education which created many controversy.

Also, people belittle a foreigner's native language. Mujica reports a known politician in favor of adopting English as the official language for the United States, and she felt the train of thought was dense (217). Foreigners are singled out, for not comprehending English. Rodriguez recalls a gringo [American or English person] rudely asking "What can I do for you?", Rodriguez sensed he could not adapt to the gringos society, but stay safely tucked away in his Spanish society (213). Also, people make a foreigner's native language feel too formal. Rodriguez describes the nun who introduced him to his first classroom in his new academic career, and how her voice echoed with a dullness, while she sounded each syllable of his Hispanic last name (212). Equally important, people insinuate English to foreigners. Youngquist and Martínez-Griego observed that many of the families at a local learning center spoke Spanish, and limited English, and tried to teach English to their children. Instead of helping their children learn English, it interrupted the learning development for both languages (92). Peopl humble a foriegner's language.

There are many bilingual and multicultural people in the world today. For many, the choices of which language they use, and how they use it, correspond to what social or cultural community they belong to. Amy Tan, a Chinese American novelist, portrays this well in her short essay "Mother Tongue." Tan grew up in two vastly different worlds, using different "Englishes." The first world, which consists of her close family, she speaks what we may call "broken" or "limited" English. The second world, which is her business and professional world, Tan speaks and writes perfect standard and academic English. Having to "shuttle" between these two communities with very different languages has had many different positive and negative effects on