Blog Post 8

 This week's reading was Aria by Richard Rodriguez. This reading talked about bilingual education and what it is like. I am not familiar with what it is like to be a bilingual student in America, but when I am a teacher, I will most likely have students who are Spanish speakers or bilingual. For this reason, it is important for me to take the time and learn about their experiences, so I know how it is best to help them in the future. The author talks about how when he was younger, he felt like English was not his to use. This made his classroom experience difficult because he was uncomfortable, which resulted in him mumbling. He explained how he felt like English was the language for the public and Spanish was the language for private. The nuns from his school came to his home and talked to his parents and encouraged them to make sure he was speaking English at home. This then led to his parents and siblings to start speaking English at home to encourage him. After a while of this he spoke out in class loudly in English. He said, “The belief, the calming assurance that I belonged in public, had at last taken hold”. This then led to a change in his home life because the more comfortable he became with the outside world, the less he became at home. This led to him talking to his parents less and less. Later he talks about how he had a difficult time because he felt like he did not fully fit on either side. The author ends his writing by saying how assimilation can affect a person gravely if they do it or even if they do not. He says how they lose a part of their private identity if they do but gain a public identity, and same goes the other way. This blog post was one of the more difficult ones for me because I have never had to deal with speaking a language that is not the prominent language for the area that I am in. So, it was hard for me to relate to the author, but I am so happy I had the opportunity to learn more about this topic.