Essay On Personal Narrative: I Am As A Spanish Language

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.

He described Spanish, Espańol, as safe and endearing, while he described English as loud and impersonal. His teachers recognized his struggle with English and asked his parents to only speak it at home to help him learn. In time he became fluent in English at the cost of his Spanish, which his extended family loved to scold him for. As Rodriguez became more advanced in English he became more self-conscience about how poor his parents were at it.

Even though I am Mexican I never had to speak Spanish because

At the end of his excerpt, he speaks on the loss of family dynamic, he never “rushed home after school anymore.” Spanish was the main principal in his family, and after being forced to brush off the Spanish language, his family was troubled. Rodriguez wants his readers to know that the issue wasn’t the setbacks in learning English but the setbacks in his loving family. This is an important aspect of bilingualism for American society to understand because no brave soul decided they wanted to speak on it. Me, I can because I haven’t had to endure such pain.

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).

As a Cuban-born woman, my expected role in society is clearly defined; my thoughts and personality have a mold into which they must fit. However, a month before my fifth birthday my family made the decision to move to the United States and in doing so liberated me from these expectations and gave me the freedom to explore my own interests and beliefs. Ten years later, they were making preparations for my Quinciañera. Due to my Cuban heritage, my coming of age was set to be commemorated by a very long and very expensive night of food, dance, and family. For the same cost as the down payment on a relatively small house, I would be given the opportunity to put on a show in a dress that restricted my airways and provide food and drink for about

I moved to Texas, which also has its own language, when I was 15 years old. I felt as if I was learning a new language. I went into a fast food place right after I had

Being born into a Hispanic family, I was constantly influenced by my parents, peers, and school officials to work harder than an average American kid because I was labeled as Mexican not American. My culture has strict, strong standards when it comes to having men lead the household, women bear and raise the children, and children follow the parents’ footsteps. However, I grew up contemplating to contradict my Hispanic heritage. It began with learning how to speak, write, and read English all on my own because my parents only knew Spanish. I knew my parents wanted a different future for my siblings and I, for they only made it to primary school before having to work and raise their first child.

Spanish was my first language and neither one of my parents knew english. I would go to school and just listen and try to learn every little thing I could get my hands

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).

The foods I consume, the language I speak, and the music I listen to all represent my Hispanic culture. Yet, these aspects also link to historical traditions and modern traditions. As for the foods that me and my family make, tamales, chilaquiles, quesadillas, tacos, fajitas, you name it. These foods represent the origins in which they came from. Not only are they delicious, but they remind me of my country.

As I began to learn to love my intersectionality of these two cultures. I began to love myself. I now speak more Creole than ever before. I may not have the best accent, and I do tend to revert by to English but i constantly try to improve and better myself.

He supports this argument by telling his own story of being forced to learn English by the bilingual education system. The experience he had learning English made him experience great embarrassment, sadness, and change. Rodriguez concludes his experience by discussing how English had changed his personal life at home: “We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No longer so close;no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness.” By learning English, Rodriguez’s family is finally able to integrate into society without language barriers.

I identify as a Latina. I have always considered myself as a Latina, but throughout time, I believe that I have assimilated more into a white individual because of the privilege that I hold and because I have lived in the US most of my life. I have received mostly negative messages from those who are not from my ethnicity. My peers and I were told we wouldn’t graduate high school and be laborers for the rest of our lives. With the current politics, I believe that this still holds true where some people still hold stereotypes and give oppressing messages to Latinos.

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.