Name of Title and Author
Aria by Richard Rodriguez
Aria by Richard Rodriguez
Authors Argument
The author Richard Rodriguez argues that people of different ethnic backgrounds should not erase their culture and identity, but in order to "survive" in today's society it is extremely important to know how to speak English.
Quotes
1. "Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid. I would have trusted them and responded with ease."
In today's society there are many children that come into this world not knowing English very well or even at all. It is the teachers responsibility to make their students feel comfortable with whatever language they speak in the classroom. For example, my VIPS assignment I am in a classroom with mostly all the children not knowing English or know very little. The teacher is not very helpful to the students who are just learning to speak English. It seems likes shes blaming them for not knowing the language that is being spoken. I work with a couple of children, one who's 10 years old, speaks Creole, and doesn't even know the English alphabet. Yes, it may be frustrating at times because believe it or not, teaching a 10 year old child the alphabet is rather challenging. In order for him to feel more welcome and more comfortable (knowing no Creole at all) I've learned how to say "Hello" and "Great Job" in his language.
2. "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."
I think that the author is trying to say that when for example a Spanish speaking family learns English, they are so focused on learning and trying to be like people around them, they tend to forget about their cultural background and identity. I think that it is important for people who are learning English and want to speak it regularly, also embrace their own language and culture.
I enjoyed reading this article very much. It is so common that people in today's world do not know another language then the one they were raised speaking. Yes, English is the most common language, but their are alot of Spanish and Portuguese speaking people that don't know the English language at all. Should those people have to learn how to speak English or should people who speak English learn how to speak another language in order to communicate. Barack Obama (who im not fond of) said recently that because Spanish is so common, people who speak English should learn how to speak Spanish rather than the other way around. Is this how it should be? There are many arguments to this situation.
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2 comments:
The quotes you choose are important, but I am not sure you hear his argument in full. He really says that in spite of the sacrifices he had to make, learning English ws worth it to him because it gave him a public indivisuality.
Aside from the idea of people having to learn Spanish, I am in total support of people learning languages other than their native. I just think it makes them more educated and well rounded people. It also helps you understand your native language more. I know when I learned Spanish, it helped me better understand some grammar better in English. I know that might make me sound like a knower of the English language but sometimes I just didn't learn it in school. So by learning another language, I better unstood English and learned about a whole nother culture and language.
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