Identity Crisis
In “Se Habla Espanol” by Tanya Maria Barrientos, speaking multiple languages at the time of Barrientos being a child, was not perceived as a bonus on your job application. When she was just three years old she was moved to the states and her parents completely stopped using Spanish and taught their children English. They did this in order to provide a better education for their children in America. They knew that if they spoke Spanish, they would be perceived as poor individuals. Barrientos stated; “If I stayed away from Spanish, stereotypes would stay away from me.”(Barrientos 646) She knew even as a young child that people around her pegged their family as “Mexican”, which would mean inferior. She wanted to feel white so she could fit into society. Today, America teaches languages in schools. They want children to be bilingual because there are more opportunities in the world for people who speak multiple languages. However, stereotypes still exist and are very common in a lot of areas. Where I come from, people speak in a Southern accent. People tend
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After having the opportunity to meet people from all over, in my line of work I am given the pleasure of holding a conversation with people and actually getting the chance to know more about where they are from and why they chose to come here. Generally they talk about how the people are so nice and they didn’t expect to meet good people here. I have heard many people from northern states like New York, Maryland, or Massachusetts say “We heard that people around here just aren’t the brightest.” I have also been asked if there are a lot of “rednecks” here. This would be another stereotype that small, countryside towns are represented by. It could be easily interpreted by a select few people that “rednecks” lack intelligence, but there are so many people who prove the majority
Unlike Richard Rodriguez who believed Assimilation was the key to success. Cultural identity Language possess a barrier for many people in our society. Your culture, language, and
In “Teach Them Spanish Early, Too”, Carlene Carmichael argues that a second language should be offered to Americans. Carmichael seeks equality for everyone and she wants the same opportunities of also being taught a second language. Children are learning English so other children should be taught Spanish. In addition, Carlene Carmichael states that she feels sorry that many Americans that are applying to jobs are at a disadvantage because they cannot speak Spanish. I agree with some of Carlene Carmichael’s arguments, but many qualifications listed do not require Spanish, the applicants just need to have experience working.
The author of “Hispanic Pride vs. American Assimilation,” Stephanie Cox, presents and explains Hispanic immigrants’ hesitancy to learn English very effectively. She begins by telling a personal story about meeting a Hispanic woman who wanted her son to learn English but refused to learn it herself. Cox was confused as to why the mother would refuse to learn English, so she did some research and found three possible causes of this situation: a pride in Hispanic peoples’ native countries--most specifically, Mexican-Americans, a close proximity to their native country, and the lack of support from other Hispanic Americans to assimilate to American culture and ideals. Cox’s explanation of the Hispanic reasonings aids in further understanding their situations.
White women from the south are often perceived as unsuccessful, uneducated, and unhealthy. Monica Potts would agree with that perception. Monica Potts makes it very evident that she does not disagree with that stereotype in the least bit that is in, “What’s Killing Poor White Women.” This writing is definitely an argument, and she is for upholding the stereotype. Although, white women from the south are often thought of in such a way, it is not true.
Growing up Mexican-American in the United States can be a challenge itself. Throw in the task, of learning two languages, it made for a very confused little girl. There was often times growing up when I wondered why no one, but my family spoke Spanish. Why everyone at school and all my friends spoke this different language. Sometimes it even seemed like I was two different people.
Throughout his text, he explains that he felt uncomfortable at school knowing he would have to speak this language that didn't connect to his identity. A significant quote from his text is “At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth; I was an American citizen (Rodriguez 120-122).” This quote means that after having to learn English and somewhat feeling secure with it, he imagined the truth of being American. Another important selection that stands out to me is “But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then (Rodriguez 123-125).” The reason why this quote is so important is given the fact once he felt further comfortable with English, he lost that connection with his family through Spanish.
This then leads to the problem that in this public life being bilingual or not being able to speak English was still being discriminated against. In public life, people need to be more accepting of others who speak different languages and also not contribute to getting rid of their language in America. Espadas claims culture is important and people who are a part of the English-Only movement are causing so many people to abandon their culture. While speaking out about the cultural warfare in America, Espada declares, “There are too many in this country who would amputate the Spanish tongue. Given this cultural aggression, it is astonishing that more Latinos have not lost their Spanish altogether, that so many Latinos still speak as much Spanish as they do” (Espada 26-31).
That is why Filemon Lopez, who is part of the Benito Juarez Civic Association states that they are working hard to teach the Mixtecs their rights, about the importance of health, housing but overall of education. Even in the Madera school district, the importance of education is being advocated for, for teachers such as Carmen Hernandez states that it is important that both children like adults learn both Spanish and English, so that they can later be able to function in an English speaking society, but also so that they can keep their language and their pride in their background. Such as in the lecture about linguistic anthropology lecture that we went over in class, where it was explained that for the most part once English was learned that native languages were used less and less then forgotten, for only a subset of the population usually those who are older are the only ones who maintain the language going until they are gone. That is why Carmen emphasizes the importance of providing bilingual classes for Mixtec adults and children. So that in the future as Apuleyo Guzman states, that he hopes to learn more English so that he can get a better job so that e can get a better job, so that he can better provided for his family and his village, yet also still has his culture, his language and his ties to
In both “Se Habla Espanol” and “Mother Tongue” their thoughts on the languages transition. In “Se Habla Espanol” Tanya starts off wanting nothing to do with her heritage and the spanish language. She could almost say she was ashamed and afraid of what accepting that part of her would mean; however, as time passed and the world changed , she eventually wanted to changed with it. In order to feel like she belonged somewhere she choose to learn to speak spanish and accept who she had been all along. (Se Habla Espanol 629- 632)
In this essay we will discover that a redneck is a white, hard-working individual from the south. Often having a red neck form working long hours outside receiving sunburn to the back of their necks. Redneck is a word whose meaning has many layers. The word redneck started in America in the 1800’s referring to low class farmers. Today we have created a visual of what a redneck is and how they may live.
They were forced at a young age to forget Spanish and only know English. I have learned that this is not the appropriate way to go about teaching children English. Spanish is a big part of their lives, it makes up who they are so we should not get rid of their Spanish. Bilingual children do well in school so as educators it is important to teach children English but not let them forget their
This quote explains that the author feels out of place. When Barrientos came to the United States she stopped speaking spanish, partly because her parents wanted her to speak english. One reason she did not want to be classified as Mexican American was that society has negative connotations outsiders. Learning spanish
Tan was raised in the English society and was already assimilated into society as she grew up. The language Tan was familiar with like Rodriguez was familiar to Spanish was her mother’s language, which she refers to as her “mother tongue” (Tan, 313). Tan writes about her experiences of her mother’s language as a child, and says, “…when I was growing up, my mother’s ‘limited’ English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English” (314).
But even when they didn’t learn English themselves, their children grew up speaking it. Thousands of first-generation Americans still strive to learn English, but others face reduced educational and career opportunities because they have not mastered this basic skill they need to get ahead. According to the 1990 census, 40 percent of the Hispanics born in the United States do not graduate from high school, and the Department of Education says that a lack of proficiency in English is an important factor in the drop-out rate. People and agencies that favor providing services only in foreign languages want to help people who do not speak English, but they may be doing these people a disservice by condemning them to a linguistic ghetto from which they cannot easily escape.
Samuel Huntington’s article The Hispanic Challenge argues that Hispanics, specifically Mexicans, are not true American citizens. According to Huntington, Americans are people who believe in the American creed. However, he believes this creed is being threatened. For some time now, large influxes of Hispanic immigrants have been coming to the US and have brought their own culture with them. The writer of Speaking in Tongues, Gloria Anzaldua, believes that Hispanics have the right to hold onto their culture in America.