Sunday, September 25, 2011

ARGUMENT: Richard Rodriguez; Aria

I think what Rodriguez is trying to argue throughout Aria, that language defines a person; and once you change a person's dominant language, you change them as a person. He talks about being a young child, and never ever wanting to speak up in class due to his lack of english, and never knowing what his teachers and classmates were saying. When he did speak, he mumbled and didn't know what words or tone of voice to use to get his point across. But while at home, he was comfortable and able to speak what was on his mind with no troubles at all. He was speaking the language that he knew, to people that knew exactly what he was saying.

When Rodriguez began to learn and speak English regularly, he felt more and more connected to the world. He was able to confidently answer question in the classroom and strike a conversation with a stranger on the street. Although, once Spanish began to fade of his life, it seemed like his family, more importantly his parents, were fading out too. They hardly ever had conversation like they used to, because his parents, rather his father, could not understand what he was saying most of the time. He no longer had that connection between his parents that comforted him as a child.


I found this article about how many school aren't teaching a second language during the school day anymore Foreign Language Fades in Class . I think it's really important to try to be bilingual in our society today; especially with our class, all with the hopes of one day becoming school teachers. More than likely, we're going to face a child that does not know much English, and cannot connect with his teachers or classmates. Even if we just knew a couple phrases or sentences of that language, it would put that child at ease, and make them more comfortable with their surroundings.

1 comment:

  1. I like how you put an article in about schools that don't teach second languages. I think it's important for schools to teach other languages so people can understand other languages.

    ReplyDelete