Aria by: Richard Rodriguez

          When we think about the use of language in our country, we automatically refer to the language of English; what a majority of our country's population speaks. Even though a majority of our nation communicates through the use of English language, this has not always been the case throughout our country. During the 19th century, the population of America boomed due to an influx of legal immigrants allowed in through Ellis Island from several different countries. Many of these immigrants brought a mixture of their ethnic cultures to America, creating the notion to develop a "melting pot." In Richard Rodriguez "Aria,"  he (just as many other immigrants apart of the 19th century) explains how he had to undergo a process of "American Assimilation" mostly by adopting the English language. The comfort of speaking Spanish diminished over time in Rodriguez's life as English was introduced and forced upon himself and the members of his family so they would not feel like outsiders in America's society.    

            In a personally similar experience to Rodriguez fifteen years ago, I experienced the language barrier Rodriguez describes and the process to "assimilate" or "fit in" culturally depending on your geographical location. In mid September of 2001, my father and I prepared ourselves for a trip to Ireland to visit family. My cousin was getting married to her fiancé and asked me to be one of the three flower girls in her wedding ceremony. When we arrived in Dublin, Ireland after a long, delayed trip, my cousin picked us up from the airport and drove us to her childhood home (more like a cottage). Upon arrival, we entered inside and were greeted by many members of the family. Most of my relatives in Ireland speak English with a thick Irish brough, that is usually easily understood. The native tongue of Ireland is Gaelic, but is rarely spoken throughout the country of Ireland; although it is still taught to school children. Even though it was somewhat easy for me (at the age of five) to comprehend the questions asked by my Irish cousins, the part of this experience that correlates to Rodriguez revolves around the language barrier and abrupt assimilation between myself and my two cousins, Pierre and Patrick, who are of Irish (father's side) and French (mother's side) descent. My cousins Pierre and Patrick were visiting from Paris, France (their home) to attend the wedding as well and are fluent speakers in English and French. Throughout the entire beginning of my stay, never once did I hear Pierre or Patrick speak French. Then, one day while the three of us were playing with toys together, my cousins got mad at each other and started yelling at each other in French. Confused and stunned, I looked at them puzzled trying to figure out what on earth they were saying and amazed at the different words spoken from their mouths. Immediately following the quarrel between the two boys, their grandmother Nano appeared in the frame of the door way scolding them. She told them that it was not appropriate to speak to one another in French in front of me, since I was a stranger to languages other than English and language in general to my age. My cousins then apologized and continued to speak to me in English. I never hear a word in French again after that day.          

          Rodriguez points out in the beginning of his memoir that he felt like an outsider in the classroom when he was unable to interpret questions and commands spoken to him in English by his teachers. He welcomed the idea of acclimating himself to learn the English to improve his performance in the classroom, but as English crept into his knowledge and his families and made them feel more "welcome" in American society the Spanish dialect disappeared eventually for good. The underlying message Rodriguez is trying to convey to his readers is the question of: Why can't multilingual people put their ability to greater use in education or other industries, rather than abandoning it to feel apart of society? Lisa Delpit stresses that we should be direct and explicit when speaking to children, due to community and culture contexts. Similar to Rodriguez, she believes that "Children have the right to their own language, their own culture. We must fight cultural hegemony and fight the system by instituting that children be allowed to express themselves in their own language style. It is not they, the children, who must change, but the schools. To push children to do anything else is repressive and reactionary."

-Questions/Comments/Points to Share:

         In our society today, if you can not speak English your considered an outsider that has a harder time surviving in society. Almost everywhere you go today, everything reads and speaks primarily in English. What about our Spanish speaking population, Portuguese, and Italian? What about people who communicate through technology, sign language, or even braille? What are we doing to make it easier for them? In my opinion, very little. If you only speak Spanish, you usually have to ask for a Spanish speaking translator/representative at hospitals, colleges, schools, restaurants, stores, etc. making it impossible and sometimes embarrassing to get things done. Media pokes fun at sign language interpreters showed on the news to translate important messages administered by governor's or the President, but what if you are deaf and rely on these people to be able to partake in government actions or find out what to prepare in an emergency situation? How many places have braille on their walls or specific menus in restaurants for these customers? How much money does it cost to be able to purchase a tablet that can download a communication system for children who are bound to survive on a trachea or recently suffered from a stroke and are learning to communicate all over again? Just because these people do not/do have access to English doesn't mean they should be treated different or have to abandon their native tongue. These different languages should be used to benefit society in many different ways.