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“¿Itzel, Ya estas lista para la escuela?” this was the question my mother would ask me every morning before going to school. There were day that I would dread that question but there was also days that I was excited to go to school. I was a bilingual student in the second grade and I was struggling academically. My teacher was so nice and patient it made things a lot of better for me that year. Specifically, at the school I was attending at the time, the bilingual class was looked at very poorly for we had been known as the “Spanish” kids or “Mexican” kids. My bilingual class in second grade was taught in Spanish and English, but the years previously, we had taught strictly just Spanish in kinder and strictly just English in first grade. …show more content…
Many of the students in my bilingual class were trying to fit in so much with the “English” classes that we started pronouncing our names differently. Our teacher even helped us and taught us our name in the English language because many of us were saying it wrong. Everyone was so excited to have a “new” name that year. My name was pronounced “ee TSEL” but by the end of that school year I was going by “It-CELL”. My mom wasn’t too happy about that, because she kept claiming that my name was “ee TZEL” not “It-Cell”. “That is not the name I gave you,” she would always reclaim, but she learned to accept it because she noticed it made me happy. “It-CELL” was my new name that I had from that point on and hasn’t changed since …show more content…
But by then my mom had wondered about placing me in a all English class for the reason she thought it would be beneficial for me instead of the bilingual program. “En la casa, we can work with you on your Spanish and at school, pues el ingles mija”, my mom explained to me when she first asked me how I felt about the switch of classroom. I was excited that she had asked because I had worked really hard to get where I was at with my
Language is an important part of who we are. It influences the way we think and behave on a great scale. However, sometimes it is forced upon us to go in different directions just so we can physically and mentally feel as if we belong to the society in which we live in. Just as we see in Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” and Richard Rodriguez’s “A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, both authors faced some challenges along the way by coping with two different languages, while still trying to achieve the social position which they desired.
The life of a college student is really amazing and diverse. In fact, a person can expect to live with people from different cultures, background, and histories that it is a mix of diverse multicultural experience. Even more when a student can talk with another student from a different part of the world with totally different culture, this was my case when I interview my friend from Nigeria.
I classify my race, ethnicity, and culture as a white, Irish-Italian- American, woman. My mother was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and my paternal grandparents are from Sicily, Italy. I imagine being first generation Irish and second generation Italian helps me relate with my ethnicity.
In the year 2000, right before the start of my 5th grade year, I moved to the Dominican Republic from the United States. My parents wanted to raise my sisters and me there. I had to start a new life, a new school, and make new friends. Making the transition from the United States to the Dominican Republic really wasn’t difficult because I spoke Spanish at home with my family. In fact, I was a good student, often earning honor roll and getting diplomas for having good grades. I moved back again to the United States in my junior year of high school, because my parents wanted me to go to college in the US. It wasn’t easy; I didn’t know anybody, I had to make new friends again, and I wasn’t familiar with the life over here. I only spoke a little bit of English, because I had spent many years taking classes in Spanish while in the Dominican Republic. To help me pick up the language again, I decided to take regular classes instead of english as a second language because I thought this strategy would help me learn more English and get accustom to the language.
I grew up in a small South Texas border city, Laredo. In Laredo, most individuals, including myself, spoke Spanish as a first language, and gradually learned to speak, read, and write English in grade school. Another characteristic of Laredo was the distinction between families who were well off and those who were not, but there was never really an “in-between.” After attending private catholic school for 10 years, pre-kinder through eighth grade, my parents decided it was time for a change. My public high school, John B. Alexander, was a rather large school with each class averaging around 700 students. It was quite a change compared to my eighth grade graduating class of 48 students, but I was both ready and anxious for that change.
When I first started school, I remember how difficult it was for me to make the transition from Spanish to English. My Mom left me at the door of the school in the morning, but since I was placed in an English-only classroom, the next time I opened my mouth to speak to anyone was when she picked me up again that afternoon. I didn't know what anyone was saying around me, and to make matters worse, my teacher didn't speak a single word of Spanish. That day, like every other day, I came home crying because I felt like an outsider. That year was very difficult for me because I ended up in the back corner of the classroom not participating. As a result, I had to take several years of summer school in order to catch up, something that could have been avoided if I had been placed in a bilingual program. Several key advantages to bilingual education are that it allows for an emotionally safe transition, students don't fall behind in their lessons, and parents are not alienated from their children's education.
“After English became my primary language, I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents” (243). This quote is a cry for help, a cry to his foreign readers letting them know it is not worth it. Assimilation is not the way to go. Yet he is still in denial of the fact that he is suffering a major loss. Rodriguez tries to stay positive by denying every fact he comes into contact with. “Today I hear bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of ‘individuality’ by becoming assimilated into public society” (256). It is so true as to many fall in the trap of assimilation and cannot go back to originality. Just like Rodriguez himself, he exclaims his loss in the essay saying: “I would have been happier about my public success had I not sometimes recalled what it had been like earlier, when my family had conveyed its intimacy through a set of conveniently private sounds” (244). Words from an individual who claims to dislike bilingual education, yet still complains about his situation. Once again, if bilingual education was made available, Rodriguez would not have to recall past events cause those events would have still taken place. He talks about so many regrets, loses, and humiliation he endures which actually convince his readers that bilingual education should take place. There are time people should learn from their mistake, but it
My parents did everything they knew to help my sister and I learn and respect our Mexican culture. Born into American culture but raised by Hispanic parents, often was difficult for me. Since I was little I had to manage and balance two very different cultures at the same time. There were many times while growing up that I encountered complex situations in regards to language, whether to speak Spanish or English and when it was appropriate. I felt a lot of pressure having to act as an interpreter for my parents when we were out in public. At home I was told to speak Spanish so I would not forget, but at school I was taught to only speak English with my teachers and friends. However, when we would go visit family in Mexico, I was expected to only speak in Spanish, since speaking in English in front of family members who only spoke Spanish was seen as disrespectful. So learning two languages has been very beneficial to my life and for my family. By
In order to learn more about the bilingual education program in the Public School system, we felt it would be essential to discuss a few controversial issues with some bilingual teachers, and ask them for their opinion on the effectiveness of the system and the concept of bilingual education. We also questioned the benefits and disadvantages of the program. We wrote and asked these question with Latino (Puerto Rican) migrants in mind, however the Public School system consists of many ethnic groups which speak other languages other than Spanish. As one of the teachers stated, the political connotation that Bilingual Education carries is that of concerning only Spanish and English. We interviewed Mrs. Aida Ramos (Vice-Principal), Ms. Clara Velez (Bilingual Math Teacher), Mrs. Irene Killian (TESOL), Ms. Zoraida Ortiz (Bilingual Science Teacher), and Ms. Nancy Harrison (TESOL/Bilingual Computer Lab Teacher).
When visiting just about any school across America, students who attend come from all over the globe. This raises the question across America about bilingual education. This can create many challenges in and out of the classroom. The classroom should be a safe place for all students regardless of what native language they speak. In the essay Lost in translation written by Eva Hoffman, describes a foreign student who tries hard to fit in. Instead, Eva begins to feel angry, hurt and confused because people laugh at her. In Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education by Elizabeth R. Howard, Julie Sugarman, Donna Christian Center for Applied Linguistics Kathryn J. Lindholm-Leary San José State University David Rogers Dual Language Education of New Mexico. Guiding principles gives great ideas to educators to stop kids from making other students feel the way that Eva felt. After reading several articles about bilingual education, it is evident that all children in school should learn English but never lose their native language. When all the students speak one language, students will be less likely to make fun of each other. A good educator should learn enough foreign languages to aid them in effective communication in their classroom although; if an educator does not speak a foreign language, they should recruit within the classroom students to be peer mentors. However, a teacher should be willing to listen and encourage the students. Above all a good educator should be a good role model to their students by respecting their heritage and their language.
Richard Rodriguez commences, “ Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood” recounting the memory of his first day of school. A memory that will help support against the use of “family language” as the child 's primary language at school. Rodriguez is forced to say no: it 's not possible for children to use the family language at school. To support against the “family language” used at school, Rodriguez uses simple and complex sentences to help achieve the readers to understand that to only accept the family language is to be closed off by society; to not have a “public life” is to not share one 's life experiences with society. Bilingual Educators state that you would “lose a degree of ‘individuality’ if one assimilates. Rodriguez refutes this statement through his expressive use of diction and narration educing emotion from his audience building his pathos. Rodriguez also develops ethos due to the experiences he went
From my experience, bilingual education was a disadvantage during my childhood. At the age of twelve, I was introduced into a bilingual classroom for the first time. The crowded classroom was a combination of seventh and eighth grade Spanish-speaking students, who ranged from the ages of twelve to fifteen. The idea of bilingual education was to help students who weren’t fluent in the English language. The main focus of bilingual education was to teach English and, at the same time, teach a very basic knowledge of the core curriculum subjects: Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences. Unfortunately, bilingual education had academic, psychological, and social disadvantages for me.
After I graduated from Brooklyn College, I intended to pursue my master’s degree. My excitement to continue my education was high, but it was not possible because of a family concern. At the time, my niece was diagnosed with leukemia and so I was unable to continue my education after my final semester of undergraduate study. My niece was the little sister that I never had. We battled for two years against this disease, my niece, my family, and I. My niece won her cancer battle but, then she had a transplant which complicated everything. She passed away last year and with my memories of her I hold her high as the beautiful strong warrior princess and brave little girl that I knew. This terrible experience that I lived through with my
John Searle addresses the “major debate… going on at present concerning… a crisis in the teaching of the humanities.” [Searle, 106] He goes on to defend the canon of works by dead white males that has traditionally made up the curriculum of liberal arts education. I disagree with many of his arguments, and believe that multiculturalism should be taught in the university, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Openmindedness will take much more than just minimal changes in curriculum. In order for works by different races and women to be judged and studied alongside works by white men, they have to be seen as equal to works by white men. They have to be studied for their literary content, not for the statement they make about feminism or race. We don’t just need to evaluate them by the same standards, we need to change the standards. The standards set by the traditional liberal arts education have been set by white males and are inherently biased. New standards need to be set that are as openminded as we want students to be. This is a trend that needs to be started way before college. A diverse curriculum should be taught throughout a person’s education, because that is what will produce well rounded, openminded individuals that will change the tradition of oppression in society.
When I first started school, I really didn’t know any English. It was hard because none of the kids knew what I was saying, and sometimes the teachers didn’t understand what I was saying. I was put in those ELL classes where they teach you English. The room they would take us to was full of pictures to teach us English, and they would make us sit on a red carpet and teach us how to read and write. When I would go back to regular class, I would have to try harder than the other students. I would have to study a little more and work a little harder with reading and writing if I wanted to be in the same level as the other kids in my class. when I got to third grade I took a test for my English and past it I didn’t have to go to does ELL classes anymore because I passed the test, and it felt great knowing that I wouldn’t have to take those classes no more.