Aria -Richard Rodriguez

• Bilingual / Second Language
• Students
• Family's Language
• Spanish
• English
• Americanization
• Embarrassed / Afraid
• Silence
• Public Language
• Private Language
• Individuality
• Classroom Language
• Language at Home
• Respect
• Education
• Comfort
• Voice / Tone
• Meaningful
• Understand
• Hatred of American Sound

Richard Rodriguez argues that English should not be the only public language taught in schools and white people of power need to recognize, accept and teach each student a second language so individuality is not lost.

1. "What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right and the obligation to speak the public language of los gringos. The odd truth is that my first grade classmates could have become bilingual...more easily then I" (p. 34)
2. "Again and again in the days following, increasingly angry, I was obliged to hear my mother and father: "Speak to us en ingles." Only then did i determine to learn classroom English" (p. 36)
3. "We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed. No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness. Our house would be empty of sound" (p. 36)

After reading "Aria" it left me feeling sad for Rodriguez. Reading about how he didn't feel like an individual anymore made realize that many students today must also feel the same. Feeling like they are being forced to only speak English and forget about their original and familiar language. I think it is very important to make each student comfortable in your classroom and bilingual education would be the perfect way to start. With many of today's students speaking a second language, I would imagine it would mean a lot to bilingual students if one day some of their classes were taught in their language. Forcing the English speaking child to learn a second language while at the same time recognizing other equally important languages.