Aria Richard Rodriguez

A couple of words that I had to look up because I did not know the meaning of them. Look them up did help me understand a lot more! Which was nice.

• Hark
• Bemused 

Reflection

In the passage, it talks about Rodriquez and his struggles of growing up in a bilingual household. Rodriguez grew up in a Spanish only speaking home and when he went to school all of the children including the teachers only spoke English. The struggle was that he had to learn a whole new different language but he felt like it was not right and that it was not his language to use. At first, he was timid about even speaking English in his classroom. He would hope that the teachers did not call his name to speak in front of the classroom. As time passed the teacher noted his silence and arrived at his doorstep to speak to his parents. From there on Rodriguez's parents and siblings were speaking English at home to get all of the use to the language. Soon English became Rodrigues primary language but he also forgot how it was to be Spanish. I personally think this was a win loose situation. It was a win because not only did Rodriguez become extremely comfortable with the English language that he became a writer. Which is amazing because it was a huge struggle for him to be comfortable and publically be able to speak English.  Also, his parents learning English was a plus because there was another form of communication besides Spanish. It was a loose situation also because I felt like he lost a part of himself like his identity. I am only saying this because in the article  he says this " I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents. The old Spanish words mama and papa I couldn't use anymore. They would have been too painful reminders of how much had changed in my life." It is like that since he so used to the American culture it seems like he lost some of his Spanish roots. Another one that was a downside was that the communication between the family was gone. Spanish was the thing that kept them together in a way it was so since that is gone the communication. He says "The silence at home, however, was finally more than a literal silence, Fewer words passed between parent and child, but more profound was the silence that resulted from my intention to sounds."

Reading Aria by Richard Rodriguez was definitely a different way to look at Spanish-speaking children. I personally really liked this passage a lot. To me this passage was so relatable it was a bit scary because I found myself nodding my head to a lot of the things that he said. One of the things was that whenever the teachers talk to him he felt a bit intimidated. "I would have felt much less afraid. I would have trusted them and responded with ease." I felt like this too growing up because I mainly spoke Spanish at home so going into a whole new environment was completely different. I was shy and did not speak because of the fact I was scared I was going to mispronounce words. I eventually overcame my fear of being shy but it was something that took the time to actually get over. It took a lot of time and patience.

Questions/Comments/Points to share
This article reminded me of the SWAMP activity we did in class only because of the fact that this article was mostly revolved around being American. We value the English language so much that we all need to speak it no matter what. The question I had was was there ESL classes back in that time? I am asking this because this would have made the struggles of learning English for Rodreguez a lot easier and smoother.