Se Habla Espanol By Tanya Barrientos

798 Words4 Pages
The Power of Language Growing up Latino has its prices that we have had to pay for. Back in the1930’s not being able to speak Spanish was looked down upon, not only by our race but by the Anglo society. (Norton, 561) If you spoke Spanish or any other language except for English you were looked down like you were nothing. Being able to speak English appropriately made it easier for you to get a job and people would accept you better and it protected the kids from the evils of prejudice. When I read the article, Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Barrientos, it opened my eyes to something’s that have happened in my heritage. Tanya was brought to America from Guatemala at the age of 3. Her parents wanted better for her and her brother so, they were…show more content…
Antonio Estrada heads the Department of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and he doesn't speak Spanish. There are so many people that wonder why so many other Hispanics don't speak Spanish and what it's like for them in the Latino community. During an interview with Dr. Estrada he has asked,” Being the Head of Mexican American Studies at the University of Arizona and not speaking Spanish has ever been a problem?” Dr. Estrada said,” It never has been a problem in my experience. If I can understand the context, I can usually keep up with the conversation, though I don't speak Spanish, I answer in English. I was brought-up by my grandparents in a time when Spanish was not allowed at schools in California. They never spoke Spanish to me, and most of my uncles never spoke Spanish, but my father does.”(MSN Latinzine, 2012) He is a third generation Mexican American, born in Los Angeles, California. My grandmother's family lived in Riverside and they were very well off until the Great Depression. She was an outcast because she married a Mexican from the other side of the tracks and he wasn't born in the U.S. as she was. He was deported in the 30's, but my grandmother refused to go to Mexico with him. She remarried and raised a family in…show more content…
I still speak Spanglish and my Spanish is rusty because I don’t speak Spanish as much. I have 3 boys and they all speak English. They are Hispanic and white. I have never taught them to speak Spanish and a lot of people ask me why. My feelings for not speaking Spanish are that we speak more English because we are in America and that is the language spoken primarily. They have taken Spanish class and did ok but don’t use it much. My parents and I talk in Spanglish on a daily bases, especially if we don’t want to let my boys here what we are talking about. I don’t feel like not teaching them was a bad thing. I also feel like I don’t like it when I am approached by other ethnicities and spoken Spanish to. That makes me feel like that’s all they think I can speak. So I will tell them that I don’t understand what they are saying. I just have never felt good about it and to me it feels like they are trying to be

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