Personal Reflection Of My Language In Spanish And English

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

At the time, I signed up for spanish because it seemed the most useful considering the hispanic population in the United States and our close proximity to Latin America, but I never truly understood how helpful knowing another language could be. Over this past summer, I hosted a student from Spain for about a month. Before this experience, the language never seemed real to me. Meeting Marina and recognizing that spanish is the language she uses in everyday life changed my perspective. Spanish is exciting for me because it is an entirely new way of life that I haven’t experienced before. I spent my whole childhood speaking english and recognizing american traditions while other children spoke spanish and had different customs. Continuing to learn spanish will allow me to communicate with more people and exchange ideas with people who did not grow up the same way I

I am no immigrant. I have been living in this country ever since I was born. My brother, sister, and I are all first generation citizens. Both of my parents were born in Mexico, and at an early age came to the United States. They are now living happily in the U.S as citizens. Growing up I only spoke one language, Spanish. Being Mexican this was the only way I could communicate up until kindergarten. Although it was such a long time ago, I remember how hard it was for me to adjust. I know I had a strong accent, and I was sometimes ashamed of it. On occasion I remember accidentally speaking Spanish to my classmates. “Did you finish your homework?" “Si, todo esta-”. “I mean, yeah, all done.” I often got these confused looks on their face whenever this happened. The next year in first grade I became accustomed to English. I no longer spoke spanish to my parents. When the realization that I could no longer speak Spanish hit my parents, they were shocked. Personally I was also disappointed. Especially today, in a school with a general population of Hispanics I would love to be able to converse with them. I often get people asking if I speak Spanish and I tell them why I can’t, but can understand what the words mean. All because I did not want to look different in a school where people were primarily white back then. I don’t recall many people of my race at this school at all.

In Richard Rodriguez's essay , “ Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood ” he writes about how he struggled as a child who only spoke Spanish but lives in a society where the “public” language is English . He believes that speaking proper English will somehow help him fit into society and find his identity. Throughout the essay he contrast the Spanish language identity and English language identity. As a young boy, Rodriguez finds consolation and safety in his home where they only speak Spanish. He feels that he only has a true identity when he is at home surrounded by those who speak the same language as him

“My Spanish Standoff” by Gabriella Kuntz explains how the fear of prejudice against Latin America in the United States led her and her husband to avoid speaking and teaching their children Spanish. One reason that she decides not to teach her native language to her children is because she saw how the Anglo-Saxons in the community treated her because of her dark complexion, brown eyes and black hair. Another reason, she mentions involves the fact that her children developed accents and were unable to understand either language completely. Because of this, Kuntz decides only to speak to them in English to prevent others from criticizing her children for speaking with broken grammar and thick accents. She believes

There are both positive and negative aspects of learning a language, but people are likely to equalize two sides and try not to lose the relationships with their family and the society. Amy Tan, in “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez in “Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” explain how they viewed their private and public languages through their experiences and how they managed these two languages and established themselves in the society. Tan initially felt ashamed of her private language and favored the public language; however, in the end she showed that she could manage the balance between the languages and finally utilized both in public. On the other hand, Rodriguez preferred his private language which made him feel comfortable;

Growing up in a Latino household is hard. My parents only spoke Spanish therefore my first language was Spanish. For the first few years of my life this was not really a problem, I enjoyed life as any normal little girl would. I got to talk to all of my cousins and all of the neighbor’s children. It wasn’t until I got to school that it became real that I was going to learn English. Don’t get me wrong I always knew I had to learn English my parents always talked to me about school and helped me as much as they could. It was also around this same time where I started to understand that it was not only hard for me it was hard for them as well. My parents had to live in this country not knowing the main language spoken.

Chicano Spanish differs much from Standard Spanish as it is a combination of both Spanish and English. The language usses additional syllables, anglicisms, different pronunciations, and omits many Spanish terms. For its differences the language viewed as lesser than. “It is illegitimate, a bastard language”(Anzaldua 81). As a result of the judgment placed on her language, Anzaldua was made to believe that the Spanish she spoke was “poor” Spanish. “In childhood we are told that our language is wrong. Repeated attacks on our tongue diminish our sense of self” (Anzaldua 81). The belittlement of her tongue affected her emotionally and knocked down her self-confidence. She as well explains the negative relationship between Latinas and Chicanas due to the harsh view of Chicano Spanish. “If a person, Chicana or Latina, has a low estimation of my native tongue, she also has a low estimation of me“(Anzaldua 82). In an attempt to avoid judgement, English is spoken instead. Linguistic terrorism and diminishment of a language psychologically and emotionally effects the people whom the language belongs to. They feel unable to carry a sense of self and know shame rather than pride. “….I am my language. Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself” (Anzaldua 82).

Even though my mother was Mexican it was hard for me to speak to my friends who knew mostly Spanish and a little English because Spanish was not my first language. As years went on, I went to high school, where now I can have a full conversation with my Spanish speaking friends, and since it is an international high school, it brings in more cultural diversity. With this international high school in El Paso, it has helped me learn new cultures and experience the dozens of traits they do for activities or how they celebrate

Born in the state of California to two Mexican parents my primary language was Spanish. My parent believed that learning English would be second nature because of the environment around me. It was extremely important to them as their first born to know the language that was inherent to me by the blood that runs in my veins. Therefore, when the time came to get enrolled into school my mother opted out for English only thought classes. It wasn’t until Mrs. Ledezma my third grade teacher suggested to my mother that it would be a benefit to transition into in all English class. She specifically said “A Spanish class such as mine is for children that are just arriving from other countries and do not know the English language, your daughter was privilege to be born here. Don’t take away an opportunity to

Although our society is slowly developing a more accepting attitude toward differences, several minority groups continue to suffer from cultural oppression. In her essay “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldúa explores the challenges encountered by these groups. She especially focuses on her people, the Chicanos, and describes the difficulties she faced practicing her mother tongue. She argues that for many years, the dominant American culture has silenced their language. She claims that by forcing them to speak English and attempting to eliminate their accents, the Americans have robbed the Chicanos of their identity. She also addresses the issue of low self-esteem that results from this process of acculturation. Growing up in the United States, Anzaldúa says she had to accommodate to the American culture. The fact that she was discouraged from practicing her native language induced her to become ashamed of her roots. In addition, she explains that she constantly felt suppressed on account of her gender. By incorporating Spanish words, powerful personal anecdotes and historical facts about her people, Anzaldúa produces a unique composition in which she depicts an unfair and repressive world and reprimands the prejudices that hinder certain cultures from flourishing and establishing themselves.

In the article How to Tame a Wild Tongue written by Gloria Anzaldua covers a real life story that Gloria lived. She was born into a Mexican home in the United States during the 1970s. She was looked down upon by her peers due to the fact that she spoke Spanish. When she was in school they got her in trouble because she spoke Spanish in one of her classes. Gloria also never knew that Spanish words were not all male dominant, they also applied to females. The biggest struggle for Gloria was that she often used both English and Spanish when she would talk to her peers. While some argue that she was in the wrong, I believe that she has a right to keep in touch with her roots because nobody should be ashamed of where they come from.

Growing up I believed that being Hispanic meant being a particular shade of brown that had to be just right. I had no concept of colorism during my childhood and adolescents and had a meager understanding of racism and how it looked like to be discriminated against. Furthermore, less of understanding was diluted even further by my struggle with accepting my romantic and sexual orientation. The nuance of those identities and my many others left me exploring those intersections within myself than exploring the greater picture of social discourse. This all ignoring my lack access to information only found in higher education. Once I had access to this information and meet others that were like me and different than me, I starting learning that what it means to be Hispanic is vastly different than what I thought.

However, many Hispanic families were and in some cases, still are viewed as lower-class citizens. According to Barrientos, “To me, speaking Spanish translated into being poor. It meant waiting tables and cleaning hotel rooms. It meant being left off the cheerleading squad and receiving a condescending smile from the guidance counselor when you said you planned on becoming a lawyer or a doctor” (561). They are not respected in a lot of communities, they live dirty, and they have bad jobs. These stereotypes are reasons why Barrientos did not want to be called Mexican and never wanted to learn Spanish. If diversity had been celebrated when Barrientos was a child, as it is celebrated and honored now, she would have grown up speaking Spanish and being proud of her heritage.

Anzaldúa grew up along the U.S. and Mexican border, and her native language is a mixture of English and Spanish languages called Chicano Spanish. After she grew up and left home, she found that those who speak Standard English and Standard Spanish look down on her when she speaks “Spanglish” because they view it as a bastardized version of a “pure” language. On the surface, influencing someone to assimilate sounds innocuous but the ramifications are deep. Anzaldúa says that language is identity, and the