Talking Points 2

Aria by Richard Rodriguez

1.) ”After English became my primary language, I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents.”(Pg. 37)
~I thought it was sad how he didn’t know what to call his parents. The space between the family kept growing as the children got better and better at English. I think this is the start of the family being distance from each other and is one of the problems that needs to be fixed. I don’t think a language barrier should have kept them from being close it is sad and I was hoping they could work their way through it.


2.) “By contrast, my father seemed reconciled to the new quiet. Though his English improved somewhat, he retired into silence. At dinner he spoke very little. One night his children and even his wife helplessly giggled at his garbled English pronunciation of the Catholic Grace before Meals. Thereafter he made his wife recite the prayer at the start of each meal, even on formal occasions, when there were guests in the house. Hers became the public voice of the family.“ (Pg.37)
~It is sad how the father lost his voice in his family. It is not right that his family kind of just left him behind in the dust. I wish that his family didn’t laugh at his bad English, if they encouraged him then maybe he would have gotten better. It also surprised me that the father let the mother be the voice of the family. You could tell that the father was ashamed that his English was not up to par with his family’s English because he just stop talking all together.


3.) “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. I would have trusted them and responded with ease.“(Pg. 34)
~Even though this is a great thought it is not realistic for a classroom of children. I think that it is a great idea, but finding teachers for every classroom that are bilingual themselves would be a challenge. Rodriguez points out in the next couple of sentences that he would have just put off learning English. If he put off learning English he would have got behind and may be even lost like his father was later in the article.


Aria by Richard Rodriguez was a nice article to read I found it very interesting. I liked the way it was written it was more like a story and that made it easier to read. In a way it reminds me of Kozol because the way it is written as a story. This article focused more on the child’s home life instead of his school life. I thought the article was sad how at first he was scared to speak in class and then later he was getting better at English and his family’s closeness was fading. I can understand how the family had a separation because they didn’t have any way of communication. I think that there needs to be a new way of teaching bilingual students and their parents so they don’t lose the closeness as a family. I can understand how it is scary for the family because all they are hearing is sounds and not words. I can just imagine being an outsider in another country not being able to ask anyone any questions would be terrifying. The only thing is I would like to know more about how the teacher taught him English and what were some the strategies that they used to teach him English.