Aria- Talking Points

“The Education of Richard Rodriguez”

Aria

Peter Siner  

Talking Points

Quote 1

“I was unable to hear my own sounds, but I knew very well that I spoke English poorly”

     The first quote that struck me was the one above. It seems as though Rodriguez felt like an outsider to the English language. Even though he was trying to speak the same way to fit into the English culture he was not able to. The language he spoke was still foreign to him. He also mentioned how much his parents struggled to both speak and understand English. At a young age parents are who you look up to, so to have parents that were also unable successfully communicate with others must have made it even more confusing. He was basically outside of the English “circle.”

Quote 2

“outside the house was public society; inside the house was private”

     This quote shows how Rodriguez divides his personal and social lives solely base on the language spoken in the two very different atmospheres. It seems as if Rodriguez never had an actual childhood development with his literary skills. While he believed his Spanish house was his private life and the English outside was social, the same would have applied if he was raised speaking English. In most households the way we interact and communicate differs from the way we communicate in the outside world. I don’t know if Rodriguez confused his inability to speak fluent English as being a continual barrier of language when in reality it could have just been a lack of maturity in his English. Rodriguez had no normal maturity from child to adult language because most of his efforts were contributed to simply speaking and comprehending English.

    Rodriguez also noted that English sounded unorganized and choppy while Spanish reminded him of home. As he began to learn English the gap was no longer mainly between himself and the “gringos” but himself and his own family. He began to learn English and accidentally step away from his own culture.

Quote 3

“Supporters of bilingual education today imply that students like me miss a great deal by not being taught in their families language”

    Rodriguez is pointing out that a lot is lost in the years of language development when the focus is on learning the language and not the content of the language and the maturity level. It was only later on that he realized he would have had an advantage if he had known both English and Spanish and excelled in the two languages. However his desire and his parents struggle to learn English became the main priority and so sacrificing his own culture and language was tolerable. While I believe if you come to the United States you should speak English I feel it is also important to keep hold of your family’s traditions and language in your personal environments.