Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Children by Richard Rodriguez

Do you think bilingual education is a good idea? Source: Children of Immigration http://pages.vassar.edu/children-of-immigration/education/bilingual-education/

In Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Children by Richard Rodriguez (Page 447), Rodriguez tells about his experiences while learning English as a second language. He explains how he used to feel as though Spanish was a “private, intimate” language shared by the members of his family, while English was the language of the public, spoken by “los gringos” (a term in Spanish that refers to US born citizens). This passage is from Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, a novel in which earned Rodriguez a Pulitzer Prize nomination. As an alumnus of Stanford (B.A.), Columbia (M.A.), and University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.), Rodriguez has written many novels and articles on his views dealing with the challenges faced by the Spanish-American community. In this essay, Rodriguez takes a strong stance against bilingual education, claiming that in America, children who speak Spanish at home would be put at a disadvantage if they were taught and spoken to in Spanish at school as well. This serves as his main purpose in writing the essay, his argument being that in order to achieve in today’s society, bilingual children must learn the “public” language. Consequently, Rodriguez’s audience is supporters of bilingual education, as he tries to convey through his experiences the significance of knowing English in America. Throughout the passage, Rodriguez uses Spanish colloquialisms, such as “los gringos” and “pooch” (meaning a Mexican-American who has forgotten their cultural identity). This expresses to the reader’s how, to Rodriguez, certain words are more easily understood in Spanish, emphasizing the emotional associations of his family language. This strategy assists the author’s purpose, as he identifies words he is sentimentally attached to, supporting his argument that, to him, Spanish serves different connotations and purposes as compared to English. The authors ability to articulate his feelings towards the Spanish language make it easy for the audience to visualize what his circumstances were. Through his descriptions of the shifts that came after learning English, we are able to comprehend that the pros outweigh the cons in regards to knowing the “public” language in America. Thus, I think the author achieved his purpose.