Bimbi Homemade Education Summary

Have you ever felt frustrated with yourself because you feel like you do not fit in with the people who surround you? As a child I felt like an outsider from both my friends and family. Growing up I was surrounded by friends who only spoke one language and grew up with the American culture, but in my family I was the only one who did not know how to read and write my first language, Spanish. I always felt different than my peers. I was jealous of the Spanish skills my cousins had just like Malcom X envied Bimbi in, “Homemade Education” for Bimbi’s stock of knowledge. I felt knowledgeable but not as much as I should have according to my parents. It reminded me of how Christine Marin in “Spanish Lesson” was pushed by her parents to be better …show more content…
I always had to ask for help from my mom or dad. I hated not being able to respond to my grandma in my own hand writing or even just expressing how I truly felt instead of hiding what I wanted to say because my mother was writing the letters’ for me. I understood Spanish but could not read or write it as a child. I felt just as Malcom had felt when he was writing letters,” I became increasingly frustrated at not being able to express what I wanted to convey in letters that I wrote…”(143). It was annoying to know that I could not express myself to my grandma freely. I wanted to learn but I did not know who I could ask for help. A year past and I started to pick up a couple things on my own but still envied my cousins for their knowledge in …show more content…
I finally decided to let go of my pride and seek for help from my peers. I started learning by spelling out objects onto a binder full of notes that I would study every night. I enjoyed learning something that was going to help me and benefit me for the rest of my life. Before I knew it I was reading the letters my grandma would send me on my own. I had felt accomplish like Malcom,” I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book was saying”(144). I enjoyed laying in my bed and writing back to my grandma in private. I had never felt more accomplished as a kid then being able to fully understand my first language. My mom noticed that as I was learning how to read and write in Spanish, my grades started to slip a little due to my focus on learning Spanish. She always reminded me that I could learn Spanish later, but I would never be better than the gringos if I kept slacking off in