Yolanda

When reading Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, I was reminded about the struggles of being an immigrant in the United States with all of the barriers with learning a new language and culture. I really saw this when it came to all Spanish words that are written in the book. To be able to understand her own culture, the reader has to have a basic understanding of Spanish. Culture is really taught through language, and there is a lot missing if the reader does not have this basic understanding. When immigrating to the States, people have to learn English not only to communicate well, but to fill out paperwork, and to understand the culture. For this essay I am going to focus on one story that resonated a lot with me when I was reading

The United States of America has been known to be a land of opportunity and freedom with the persisting idea of the “American Dream”. The "American Dream" is defined as the equal opportunity for all citizens to become successful through hard work and determination. This guarantee of a better life has inspired many generations of immigrants to move to America in order to be included in the dream. Julia Alvarez, the Latina Leader Award winning author, reflects on her own personal experiences of immigrating and assimilating into American society in her novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. The novel is about the Garcia family’s life in America before and after they fled from the Dominican Republic to escape the tyrannical dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez depicts the persistent struggles of racism, inability to find work, cultural identity, and rebellion of which all immigrant families faced while living in America. These struggles as a result can influence one’s perception of the meaning of being an American citizen. Alvarez accomplishes these changing perspectives within the Garcia family by writing the story in a form of a reflection within itself by the characters. The characters share their own perspectives of the meaning of being an American citizen, which indicates that outside influences have shaped each character differently. The Garcia Family 's views of being an U.S. citizen is divided individually based on the

For more than 300 years, immigrants from every corner of the globe have settled in America, creating the most diverse and heterogeneous nation on Earth. Though immigrants have given much to the country, their process of changing from their homeland to the new land has never been easy. To immigrate does not only mean to come and live in a country after leaving your own country, but it also means to deal with many new and unfamiliar situations, social backgrounds, cultures, and mainly with the acquisition and master of a new language. This often causes mixed emotions, frustration, awkward feelings, and other conflicts. In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, the author

Salais change from avoiding her native language to valuing her bilingualism. As a child, Salais grew up in a poor neighborhood “El Paso, Texas” which made her to be ashamed of her native culture, because

He states that assimilation happens whether one likes it or not. “It is something that can not be helped. Rodriguez recalls a time when Loatians and Mexicans lived together even though never having gotten along. Loatians were complaining about the Mexicans when Rodriguez realized they were speaking with a Spanish accent” (91). The Loatins had developed an accent from their neighbors without meaning too. When assimilation happens, it is usually because you have grown up with something that you consider home.

The novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez, illustrates these challenges. Throughout the novel, we see how different aspects of culture shock impact the Garcia family. In this essay I will discuss how particular events change each family member’s Dominican cultural values and identity.

Language is much more than a method of communication. Permeated within it are traditions, customs, and legacies of one’s culture. The identity of an entire population is in the distinct vocalizations of their native language. Unfortunately, as a wave of immigrants enters the United States at young ages, many face language barriers that pose significant challenges. Language barriers affect a multitude of immigrant populations to different degrees. This, in turn, causes many of them to abandon not only their native tongue but a piece of their ethnic identity, as well. In Maxine Hong Kingston’s personal narrative,“The Language of Silence,” she describes the difficulties she experienced throughout her childhood with a language barrier as a

As long as I can remember my accent has always played a role in my life. There have been moments of uncertainty, discouragement, annoyance, and lastly pride. Throughout each emotional stage I’ve learn acceptance and responsibility of what defines me as a women who happens to be Latina. In Tanya Barrientos “Se Habla Español” she defines what resonates within me “Without having to offer apologies or show remorse. If it will help, I will go first. Aqui estoy. Spanish-challenged and pura Latina (45). She beautifully states the acceptance that too many find difficulty fitting in. Especially in a world that will defined you not only by your looks but as well as the way you speak.

Being an immigrant and assimilating to the American society is hard but immigrants should get use to the American society and if it’s possible immigrants should accept to lose their heritage. The article posted may 1998 “Immigrants shunning idea of assimilation” William branigin argues that “ like many others her neighborhood, where most of the residents are Mexican immigrants, the jacinto household mixes the old country with the new” immigrants shouldn’t try to keep their heritage still while in america it can cause them to assimilate less to america or it can cause them to have a harder time to assimilate into the american country. “Jacinto became a u.s citizen last April, but she does not feel like an American in fact she seems resistant to the idea of assimilating into U.S. Society.” this is can be a problem for Jacinto because she doesn’t want to

In “How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents” by Julia Alvarez, It’s shown how being engulfed into a new culture can cause people to struggle with keeping their own culture alive since they are around so many people that are living a different culture. Even though there are so many different races and religions in America, we all as Americans grew up here and know how Americans live, therefore, it can be tough for a different culture to live out their own ways in such a mixed country. It’s impossible to adjust to a culture without changing and being exposed to cultural discrimination. At the beginning of the book Yolanda is a grown woman and visiting her family in the Dominican.

Unconsciously, we all speak different languages; we categorize the way we speak by the environment and people at which we are speaking too. Whenever a character enters an unfamiliar environment, they experiment with language to find themselves and understand reality. For immigrants, language is a means to retain one’s identity; however, as they become more assimilated in their new communities their language no longer reflects that of their identity but of their new cultural surroundings. When an immigrant, immigrates to a new country they become marginalized, they’re alienated from common cultural practices, social ritual, and scripted behavior. It’s not without intercultural communication and negotiation

‘How the Garcia girls lost their accents’ by Julia Alvarez talks about the four girls fleeing to the united states after their father’s attempt to overthrow dictator is undiscovered. They arrived in Brooklyn, New York to a life totally different from the one back home where their name inspired respect and had dozens of maids serving them fine foods in silverware, but had to live in fear of uncles disappearing by the hand of the secret police. In the new world their parents try to hold onto their old traditions, but the girls have a different idea and instead try to find new lives for themselves but find themselves caught between the old and the new world. The novel tells their struggle to fit in and to express/communicate themselves. The story is all about one of the many aspects of the immigrant experience; language barrier and the power of word/being able to express oneself. The book is extremely popular among Hispanic immigrants for its relatableness. Although an unpopular opinion, I wouldn’t recommend Millennials to read the novel because its complex storyline, poor transitions between stories, characters difficult to

In Gloria Anzaldúa article “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” she shows us how different worlds so close can be so different. Anzaldúa shows that people have restricted freedom in society by the social norms set in them. Anzaldúa pressed her awareness and distraught on how people treat her depending on the type of language she uses. She also explains some of her emotions towards the way people are like with speaking and listening to accents. The article is how Anzaldúa explains how culture and accent shapes a person’s identity by being controlled and oppressed to fit into the social norms, which is how she creates cracks using language and code switching.

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents is story that is mostly told through Yolanda's point of view since she was the one that in the family that most struggle with her own identity. She was born in the Dominican Republic but when she came to New York City everything changed. As she tried to accommodate herself she lost many of her old ways yet gained knowledge of the American ways. In Chapter 1 Yolanda returns to Dominican Republic after five years but she had changed a lot. It was hard for her to speak Spanish the way she used to before and also difficult to remember any cultural words. Her aunts explained to her that an "antojo" is a craving you have for something. At the thought of this she decided to go into the countryside and search for some "guavas". As Yolanda was in search for such fruits, two men with weapons asked her if Spanish if she needed help. "She has been too

Children are very impressionable and tend to take on others’ opinions as their own, but as they grow older, they develop a greater understanding and perspective of the way things are and the way they should be. As adults, both Tan and Barrientos learned to accept and embrace the languages that previously embarrassed them. Barrientos immersed herself in her Mexican heritage and enrolled in many Spanish classes. With each enrollment, she faced yet another stereotype that came with being of Mexican ethnicity; her instructors thought she should already know Spanish since she was Latina. Barrientos is now determined to learn her native language. Tan has learned to love the way in