talking point #2

1. "Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid." pg. 1

This quote reminds me of our discussion in class about scanning a room before sitting down. Also how we said that in the cafeteria, the same types of people sit together like the black people or the Hispanic people. Rodriguez would have felt much more comfortable speaking his own language. This is just like people being more comfortable being with their same kind of people. I feel like Rodriguez would scan a room before sitting down also. Since our society doesn't really meet the needs of others, we just use English as our language and wait for others to understand us.

2. "Only then did I determine to learn classroom English." pg. 2

Rodriguez was very much against trying to learn English because this is what he knew at home. The day that he saw his parents speaking Spanish then switch to English once he came in the room made him realize that there is no getting around this. Even his brother and sister were talking in English in another part of the house. After he learned how to speak English he became a better student. He even felt like he actually belonged in the society that he lived in for once. This makes me a little upset. For someone to feel like the belong to the society that they live in, they have to change who they are and how they were raised to fit in? People need to be accepted for who they are and not be expected to change if they don't want to.

3. "But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then." pg. 2

After learning the English language better, Rodriguez lost all Spanish connections he had before with his family. Speaking Spanish at home was very sacred and special to him. It was something different that he had that not many other kids in his class did. It is always nice to be able to share something with your family that you cannot share with anyone else. Once everyone started to speak English more often, he did not feel as close with his family anymore. This can be very upsetting because he is losing his family connection. Without them, he is just fitting into society like he has never wanted to do.

Reading "Aria" made me realize that it must be very difficult for people who do not speak English as their first language to live in society. I never learned a second language and only English was ever spoken at home. I now look back and wish that my family had brought some heritage into my life as a child. It would have made me closer with them and have something special to share with them. Non English speaking citizens need to keep their heritage and not change just to please people. They can fit in and still stay true to who they are.