The two articles by Robert Rodriguez and Gloria Anzaldua tell stories about different linguistic experiences, with one language interacting with another. Rodriguez states that bilingual education is not beneficial in terms of students learning and accepting the public language, the one they are supposed to live in and function on the level of publicity. On the other hand, Anzaldua believes preserving the native language is vital for its speakers, since it gives them greater sense of identity. I believe that both writers are right to some extent, and from personal experience I may state that knowing and using both native and public languages can benefit a person who speaks and cherishes them.
Both authors have some things and beliefs in common. For both Spanish was their native, private, home and family related language. However, both writers were to grow up in an English-speaking community, to be educated in an English school and to face the world of the English language every day. Rodriguez and Anzaldua bear warm feelings, which are related to Spanish and its variations. They find comfort in sounding and some unique meaning the language contains. They also value memories, which derive from hearing it. Moreover, both authors have gone through great struggle because of speaking one language or another. Rodriguez was not feeling at ease at school because he was not fluent in English. Later, he lacked the unique family connection after losing his Spanish fluency. Anzaldua refers to language-related “attacks [that] continue throughout life” (316). Also, both writers were called pocho, implying that they speak English instead of Spanish. Concerning the ground for discussion, I can relate to having been educated in the second language. My first language is Arabic, which I use when communicating with friends, family or generally with my people. It also gives me sense of belonging and represents whom I identify as. The language of my education in an international school was English. I used it during classes, when communicating with other students and at times in my everyday life, when searching the web or travelling. However, I was not called any names because of speaking it, as all of the students in the school and generally teenagers do so as well.
Nonetheless, the authors seem to have two opposing views on what a language brings to our life. Anzaldua advocates the statement that having a separate language and using it within the community helps “identify ourselves as a distinct people,” (313) even if a language is the mix of two. Since the writer had harsh experiences with languages, being condemn for both speaking Spanish and speaking English, it is understandable why she takes such a stance. Having your own language that differentiates you from “the mass” gives the feeling of being protected and private. It also allows you to stay explicitly connected to some unique heritage, culture and history. It allows staying closer to your roots and background. On the other hand, Rodriguez doubts sticking so much to one’s “private” language, stating that in terms of educational ambition such people are “filled with decadent self-pity, obsessed with the burden of public life” (231). They “romanticize public separateness” (Rodriguez 231) and are afraid of gaining something new and practically useful. Of course, at first one is closely tied to the privacy of one’s language. But later, one realizes that this “intimacy is created by intimates” (Rodriguez 234). Rodriguez’s point of view is closer to my own. Language can bring something new or deprive us of something we know. Of course, staying in touch with your native language is a good choice. Hearing dear sounds of it is highly comforting; it makes you feel at home and at ease. However, being blind to new possibilities that come with another language will not benefit a person. Acknowledging, respecting and mastering languages is a great art, which can broaden our horizons and make us more open-minded. Knowing and being able to use more than one language gives you access to more information, to more original literary works, to more cultures and knowledge. Language accumulates vast data and wisdom of a people. Thus, each represents a nation, its traditions and believes. It is rather a misfortune that Rodriguez lost his ability to speak Spanish. Also, Anzaldua feeling such pressure toward her language choices is a drawback of a multi-lingual environment. I believe that in such situations we should pay attention and nurture both native and acquired languages.
Both authors also take different stands on bilingualism. Anzaldua enumerates a whole range of languages that are being in her use between somewhat standard Spanish and English. She stresses her finding comfort in a mix of both, when she has freedom to switch between the two within a sentence, a phrase or even a word. Though Rodriguez’s family also used to play tricks with the two languages, he tends to spread his feeling of comfort over the two languages, pointing out how important timing is. At the beginning of his education, he was reluctant to being taught in English. Staying mostly quiet during the classes, he found comfort at home, surrounded by the sound of Spanish. But having slowly accepted new sounds, he was able to eventually become a good student, who spoke decent English. Now he is of thought that bilingual education only “reinforces feeling of public separateness” (Rodriguez 235). I believe it is true. Your heritage of culture and language, mentioned above, should not divide you from the community of the country you live in. It should not be a burden that makes you feel guilty, shy or aggressive. Being open to the new environment and perceiving it friendly will make the environment perceive your heritage and culture in a friendly way as well, without sharp separations or misconceptions. It is always a pleasure for me when foreigners, who live in my country, pay interest to our language and customs, without dividing themselves as alien to the community. Thus, bilingual education can delay this process of becoming more open, as Rodriguez did. If students are taught in their native language when they live in another country, it can be easier for them at the beginning. However, later they may experience difficulties or simple unwillingness to learn the public language. Being taught in it since the year one only helps them in the future. It is challenging task, but in the long run, it has its evident benefits (similarly to keeping a healthy diet or going to the gym). Of course, something is lost in the way, but “[t]he loss implies the gain” (Rodriguez 231).
All in all, language is a useful tool, which should not be neglected. Improving your linguistic skills can greatly benefit you. Personally I did not mind bilingual education at all. I enjoyed having two languages in my life. Each of them gave me peculiar possibilities: having a fun small talk with my mum or watching my favorite movie without translation. Though it might seem that you lose yourself a bit when not speaking your native language, you should remember that your language is not everything that makes you who you are. Even when not speaking it, you still possess your heritage and your background is unchangeable. Thus, we should not be afraid of speaking and being educated in new languages as long as we are not abused. What we should keep in mind is cherishing the heritage itself, making it open for the others without any divisions and separateness. With world becoming so much more multiculturally aware, we should celebrate this diversity.
Works cited
Anzaldua, Gloria. "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." The Writer’s Presence: a Pool of Readings, 3rd ed. Ed. Ed. Donald McQuade & Robin Atwan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2000. 311-321. Print.
Rodriguez, Richard. "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood." The Writer’s Presence: a Pool of Readings, 3rd ed. Ed. Ed. Donald McQuade & Robin Atwan. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2000. 222-238. Print.
