Aria- Richard Rodriguez

Aria was about...

• Education
• Americanization
• Power
• Society
• Silence
• Disadvantage children
• Bilingualism
• Spanish as a private language
• English as a public language
• Two worlds
• Improvement
• Family
• Changes
• Individualism

Argument

Rodriguez argues that when bilingual children or families become assimilated into a public society, a degree of private individuality is diminished.

Evidence

1. Richard's family was willing to give up their language in order to fit in within their society.

"In an instant, they agreed to give up their language (the sounds)that had revealed and accentuate our family's closeness"(page 35).

2. The closeness within Richard's family diminished as they became apart of society.

"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, but one greatly changed. No longer so close, no longer bound tight by pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness"(page 36).

3. As Richard's comfort and understanding grew in the English language, he was able to fit in at his school and in public.

"Neither my older brother nor my sister rushed home after school anymore. Nor did I. [...] following the dramatic Americanization of their children, even my parents grew more publicly confident"(page 36)

Points to Share/Comments and Questions:

Aria is a very interesting article that I can relate to tremendously. Just like Richard, I speak more that one language. I am a trilingual speaker since my parents are from Guatemala and besides English, I can speak Spanish and Garifuna. It is difficult to maintain your private individuality when trying to fit in within a society. I was raised speaking Spanish and Garifuna in my home, but when I started to go to school, I began learning English. Learning English has affected me both positively and negatively. It has affected me positively because I am now apart of society and have priveledges within the society. As a fluent English speaker I have the oppotunity to attend college, communicate with others and not feel silenced by my differences. The negative affect of learning English is loosing apart of my private individuality. I am no longer a fluent speaker in Garifuna because it is hardly spoken in my home. My parents are also into the habit of speaking to my sisters and I in English, rather than Spanish and Garifuna. Code switching is often done in my home. We are in the habit of speaking "Spanglish." I also agree with Richard when he stated that English is a public language and Spanish is a private one. I agree with this because I have observed it within my own life. English is used beacuse it is highly excepted with our society. It is the language that is taught to children in America and the language which we use to establish every part of our daily lives. But to bilingual speakers, English is a language that is used in public whereas Spanish or any other languages for that matter is used within the comfort of family and friends.

During my VIPS experience at Pleasant View Elementry School

I am working with Pre-k Bilingual students who are three to five years old.The students are fluent in the English language but are placed in a Bilingual class room. Why is it that fluent students in English are being taught everything...which includes their alphabets and vowels in spanish? Doesn't that cause problems/ confusion for the child as they grow up in a society where the English language is dominate?