Imagine being locked in a room full of strangers for nine hours a day, without any means of communication, not understanding a word said, and yet being lectured and questioned on subjects essential to life. Having difficulty communicating with teachers is an everyday issue for thousands of students across the United States, and as the efficiency of the public school system is constantly under debate, the question of whether or not bilingual classrooms are an efficient method that improve the education of bilingual students. In “Aria: A Memoir of Bilingual Childhood,” a memoir written by Richard Rodriguez and published in his book Hunger of Memory in 1982, Rodriguez disagrees with the idea that by implementing bilingual classes, schools aide
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He emphasizes how hesitant, rigid, and uncoordinated his parents English was, how their bodies tensed when there was an issue translating their thoughts. Although there is no geographical isolation, Rodriguez’s memoir conveys an atmosphere of cultural alienation. Even though he interacts with Americans everyday, there is a lack of understanding and bonding between the community and his family. It is not until Rodriguez’s uncomfortability with English starts to hinder his ability to learn in the classroom, that his teachers decide to contact his parents in an attempt to incorporate English at home. After the teachers consult the parents, English becomes the prominent language in Rodriguez’s home. The transition to the foreign language causes him to lose the intimacy that his family shared. Dinners that were once lively and full of discussion turned silent and uncomfortable due to the newly founded inexpressibility that Rodriguez faced. After finally realizing that English was never going away he finally assimilates and all of the foreign sounds and cultural differences seemingly melt away as he learns to communicate in …show more content…
Rodriguez confirms from his personal experience that bilingual educators are right when they say that “children lose a degree of individuality by becoming assimilated into public society”(Rodriguez 579). Although it seems that he is contradicting himself, Rodriguez continues onto his strongest argument, “If i rehearse here the changes of my private life after my americanization, it is finally emphasize a public gain. The loss implies the gain.” He is arguing that although all of the changes made him feel distressed and alienated from his family, all of those changes and negative emotions indicated a change in the opposite direction, a positive change in his life (Rodriguez 580). He continues to prove to his readers that “While one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by being assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality”, in his opinion, the fact that he is special from a gargantuan community of other english speaker is enough to compensate for the changes in his life.
Rodriguez makes a seamless introduction of logic into his use of ethical appeals and immersion to convey his experiences onto the reader. He weighs the gains and the losses
He emphasizes how hesitant, rigid, and uncoordinated his parents English was, how their bodies tensed when there was an issue translating their thoughts. Although there is no geographical isolation, Rodriguez’s memoir conveys an atmosphere of cultural alienation. Even though he interacts with Americans everyday, there is a lack of understanding and bonding between the community and his family. It is not until Rodriguez’s uncomfortability with English starts to hinder his ability to learn in the classroom, that his teachers decide to contact his parents in an attempt to incorporate English at home. After the teachers consult the parents, English becomes the prominent language in Rodriguez’s home. The transition to the foreign language causes him to lose the intimacy that his family shared. Dinners that were once lively and full of discussion turned silent and uncomfortable due to the newly founded inexpressibility that Rodriguez faced. After finally realizing that English was never going away he finally assimilates and all of the foreign sounds and cultural differences seemingly melt away as he learns to communicate in …show more content…
Rodriguez confirms from his personal experience that bilingual educators are right when they say that “children lose a degree of individuality by becoming assimilated into public society”(Rodriguez 579). Although it seems that he is contradicting himself, Rodriguez continues onto his strongest argument, “If i rehearse here the changes of my private life after my americanization, it is finally emphasize a public gain. The loss implies the gain.” He is arguing that although all of the changes made him feel distressed and alienated from his family, all of those changes and negative emotions indicated a change in the opposite direction, a positive change in his life (Rodriguez 580). He continues to prove to his readers that “While one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by being assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality”, in his opinion, the fact that he is special from a gargantuan community of other english speaker is enough to compensate for the changes in his life.
Rodriguez makes a seamless introduction of logic into his use of ethical appeals and immersion to convey his experiences onto the reader. He weighs the gains and the losses