Richard Rodriguez believes that the Americanization of a bilingual child will result in their public gain. “Aria” by Richard Rodriguez is a heart-wrenching piece of writing about the full Americanization of Rodriguez resulting in his native language of Spanish being forgotten and the full submersion into the English language. Many of the events Rodriguez faced in his life are present to many other bilingual students’ today. These events that bilingual students’ are facing will strongly influence their decision on struggling to learn two languages at a young age, stalling the development of one of their languages, or being forced to choose one language or the other in a full assimilation. Rodriguez’s viewpoint is that if you want to make a full
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Quan learned the English language because it is the dominant language of America. Being alienated from the public is a major problem for many bilingual children because they aren’t ready to step out of the comfort of their private language and enter the public language. Rodriguez explains how as a child he felt timid and shy because he couldn’t assimilate, but once he accepted his identity as an American citizen, he was able to open up and merge English as his public and private language. When Rodriguez discovered his identity he explains, “Only when I was able to think of myself as an American, no longer an alien in gringo society, could I seek the rights and opportunities necessary for full individuality. (33)” Rodriguez made sacrifices by giving up his culture and language in order to proceed farther in society and fully assimilate to the English language as well as American culture. Rodriguez claims that it is necessary to give up your culture in order to fully Americanize yourself because these sacrifices are required in order to step up and develop more in the society he is in. Quan gave up her language, but as a result she was further alienated as a result. Supporters of bilingual education believe that bilingual schooling will help students acquire skills required for public success while also giving an identity. Rodriguez’s viewpoint …show more content…
Quan disagrees with Rodriguez’s claim and actually retraces back to her old native language in order to retrieve the intimacy of her private family language. Rodriguez gave up his old language and culture and claims, “I would dishonor our intimacy by holding on to a particular language and calling it my family language. Intimacy cannot be trapped within words; it passes through words. (41)” He explains that your old native language being your sacrifice when you fully “Americanize” doesn’t mean you’re betraying your family or culture because intimacy passes through your words. Even after his family didn’t talk as much or wasn’t as close as they were when their private language was Spanish, they were quiet, but Rodriguez claims that he can see the intimacy from the little acts his mother or family would show to him. For example, Rodriguez still connected with his Grandmother even after he wasn’t able to speak Spanish. In Quan’s perspective, it was only when she relearned Chinese, she was able to reconnect with her father and retrieve that old intimacy she
Quan learned the English language because it is the dominant language of America. Being alienated from the public is a major problem for many bilingual children because they aren’t ready to step out of the comfort of their private language and enter the public language. Rodriguez explains how as a child he felt timid and shy because he couldn’t assimilate, but once he accepted his identity as an American citizen, he was able to open up and merge English as his public and private language. When Rodriguez discovered his identity he explains, “Only when I was able to think of myself as an American, no longer an alien in gringo society, could I seek the rights and opportunities necessary for full individuality. (33)” Rodriguez made sacrifices by giving up his culture and language in order to proceed farther in society and fully assimilate to the English language as well as American culture. Rodriguez claims that it is necessary to give up your culture in order to fully Americanize yourself because these sacrifices are required in order to step up and develop more in the society he is in. Quan gave up her language, but as a result she was further alienated as a result. Supporters of bilingual education believe that bilingual schooling will help students acquire skills required for public success while also giving an identity. Rodriguez’s viewpoint …show more content…
Quan disagrees with Rodriguez’s claim and actually retraces back to her old native language in order to retrieve the intimacy of her private family language. Rodriguez gave up his old language and culture and claims, “I would dishonor our intimacy by holding on to a particular language and calling it my family language. Intimacy cannot be trapped within words; it passes through words. (41)” He explains that your old native language being your sacrifice when you fully “Americanize” doesn’t mean you’re betraying your family or culture because intimacy passes through your words. Even after his family didn’t talk as much or wasn’t as close as they were when their private language was Spanish, they were quiet, but Rodriguez claims that he can see the intimacy from the little acts his mother or family would show to him. For example, Rodriguez still connected with his Grandmother even after he wasn’t able to speak Spanish. In Quan’s perspective, it was only when she relearned Chinese, she was able to reconnect with her father and retrieve that old intimacy she