Talking Points # 2

Richard Rodriguez
"Aria"

1. " The family's quiet was partly due to the fact that, as we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents. " (37)

The english language really changed Richard's family-for the worst. There was no more bond between the family. It was such a struggle for the child to learn another language, and even more of a struggle for his parents. Its already tough trying to talk to your parents as a kid, I can't imagine trying it in a new language.

2. “What they seem not to recognize is that, as a socially disadvantaged child, I considered Spanish to be a private language. What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right-and the obligation-to speak the public language of los gringos.” (34)

This reminds me of the "culture of power". The English is what he had to learn because that is what the society expects. His spanish speaking ability is deemed as useless in America. No educator seemed to enforce the fact that it was great that Richard could speak another language. The nuns seemed angry with the family as well for not enforcing English at home.

3. " But the bilinguists simplistically scorn the value and neccessity of assimilation."(38)

Again educators are seeing this as a bad thing. The spanish speakers are going to gain something even more valuable by learning English. They are not going to lose the sense of who they are. It will help them assimilate easier into contemporary America.

I really enjoyed this article by Rodriguez. Anytime a story is told from the first person narrative it is very easy to connect with. You can just feel the raw emotion Rodriguez is writing about. This article brings more awareness to the table. By learning from others past experiences, America can better our system. It was tough to hear about how much the author's family struggled with the Enlgish Language. The educators at the school did not help at all and were not very compassionate. I believe this is the key point of the article. To be understanding and not diminish anyone person because they are different. If they have the ability to speak another language the teacher should encourage both.

I saw the connection with Delpit when the Culture of power was at work. The nuns completely disregarded his ability to speak Spanish because it was not how the classroom talked. It is surely a tough task to have bilingual students in the classroom but these teachers seem to not care. It is obvious that this misunderstanding is creating problems in the classroom. Agree , disagree ?