Tuesday, March 30, 2010
How to Tame a Wild Tongue
How to Tame a Wild Tongue was a very interesting story to read. I could not believe what this woman when through as a child and how confusing trying to find her identity must have been while having all these different languages. I liked the quote on page 40 "Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself." I feel that this is a true statement because our language really describes who we are. If we do not know our language we cannot know ourselves and if we do not know ourselves what a sad, sad time in a persons life that is. I also enjoyed the way she wrote. Her mixture of Spanish and English was captivating because I took some Spanish and recognized some of the words but not all. It was a great way to keep a reader intrigued and on their toes. I was impressed by how she handled her self and her struggle with knowing a lot of different languages but similar languages.
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I agreed because ASL is what describes us... It is our identity of who we are. That is why a lot of people are always proud of their culture because their home language is part of their culture. When I read the essay, it reminds me of the movie I watched called "Spanglish" starred Adam Shandler. I can understand how she felt because I can related to that. I like how she wrote too but I had difficulty read some Spanish words because I never took any Spanish class at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with u if u don't know your language u don't know your self. I can relate to this articale many ways, i speak difrent language at home then i do in school or with my friends. But i am never confused in who i am. The articale confused me going to two difrent language. At some places i was lost.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm going to have to disagree with you that this reading "kept me on my toes" I will fully agree that what Gloria went through was horrible. The things she quoted her teachers saying were just wrong. For example being told "Go back to Mexico where you belong" when she tried to show her teacher how to pronounce her name correctly. Her struggle to find her identity was really inspiring. I can't believe what behavior was considered acceptable by teachers in that time period. My parents even tell me horror stories to this day. I have a lot of mexican freinds who speak similar variations of Spanish to Gloria's version and, if they were punished as she was, they deffinitly would not be the same people they are today.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed this reading. I took some spanish in high school and was able to recognize some of the words, but I never realize just how complex the language is. My teacher made it sound as if their was only standard Spain spanish and Mexican spanish. This reading was really enlightening to the complexities of language itself. We don't think about it, but all languages are in constant evolution. Not being able to identify with her native Chicano language, because of teachers trying to 'beat' it out of her, must have been very frustrating and hard to deal with. I also thought the author did do a really good job of explaining the difficulties of her situation. The examples really painted a picture of what it would be like to be in her situation.
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