Richard Rodriguez, "Aria"
Quotes
After reading Richard Rodriguez's story I have learned that they felt like Spanish was considered a private language. He would struggle in school because he spoke Spanish but the "public" language in his school was English. By learning English he thought it would help him fit into society. "My teachers were unsentimental about their responsibility. What they understood was that I needed to speak a public language. So their voices would search me out, asking me questions. Each time I'd hear them, I'd look up in surprise to see a nun's face frowning at me. I'd mumble, not really meaning to answer. The nun would persist, 'Richard, stand up. Don't look at the floor. Speak up. Speak to the entire class, not just to me!' But I couldn't believe that the English language was mine to use. (In part, I did not want to believe it.) I continued to mumble, I resisted the teacher's demands. (Did I somehow suspect that once I learned public language my pleasing family life would be changed?) Silent, waiting for the bell to sound, I remained dazed, diffident, afraid." Rodriguez mentions that he would have felt more comfortable and welcomed if they greeted him in Spanish when waking into the classroom. Would have also felt less afraid and had trust in them and responded without any trouble. In school language and at home language was a big difference, in school words were directed to the general audience of listeners and were meaningfully ordered. "With great tact the visitors continued, 'Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice their English when they are home?' Of course, my parents complied. What would they not do for their children's well-being? And how could they have questioned the Church's authority which those women represented? In an instant, they agreed to give up the language (the sounds) that had revealed and accentuated our family's closeness. The moment after the visitors left, the change was observed. 'Ahora, speak to us en ingles,' my father and mother united to tell us." Rodriguez did get a lot better with his English with this change, it felt more comfortable speaking in the classroom by answering questions and talking to people. However, it did have a big impact on them and changed their family environment. Which brings me to this quote, "But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then. Gone was the desperate, urgent, intense feeling of being at home; rare was the experience of feeling myself individualized by family intimates. We remained a loving family, bur one greatly changed. No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of Our public separateness. Neither my older brother nor sister rushed home after school anymore. Nor did I. When I arrived home there would often be neighborhood kids in the house. Or the house would be empty of sounds."
A point I would bring up in class would be this particular quote, "With great tact the visitors continued, 'Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice their English when they are home?' Of course, my parents complied. What would they not do for their children's well-being? And how could they have questioned the Church's authority which those women represented? In an instant, they agreed to give up the language (the sounds) that had revealed and accentuated our family's closeness. The moment after the visitors left, the change was observed. 'Ahora, speak to us en ingles,' my father and mother united to tell us." Although this change helped them with their English it also changed their own home environment.
Hyperlink: why-bilingual-education-is-important
