Sunday, September 28, 2014

Rodriguez (Reflection)

Reading Aria by Richard Rodriguez actually surprised me. I could not believe that these nuns went to this child's house and asked them to basically start speaking English fluently so that he could participate and understand in class. I work at a daycare. We get a lot of children who are Spanish, Asian, and white. But when we give tours to the parents of these children we do have to ask "does your child speak english". We do not have any teachers that speak a different language other then english so it would be hard for the child to learn. Some of the children we have had come from foster homes and have no choice but basically learn english from us because they need a daycare to stay throughout the day. I know that it could be very frustrating on the teacher and the children trying to understand one another but sometimes you just have to work through it. Even though his school was a catholic school I do not really agree with the nun going to their house telling the parents to basically stop speaking Spanish. Today I am pretty sure more people speak spanish in the US then people speaking English so  to me I would not completely change and just speak English if I spoke Spanish and was my first language. That is their first language and will always be their first language. I think I would do the same thing and keep my child in that school so they could learn a second language but I would still continue to speak spanish and english. I would not just take away and forget about my first language. I believe Lisa Delpits #2 rule saying "There are codes or rules for participating in power; chat is, there is a "culture of power" could fit right in because in this case the nun has the power I believe because they are telling his family to only speak English at home so he can speak english at school.. Overall I believe Rodriguez's main point was that to always keep your first language and your traditions throughout your entire life and to never completely change them.

Richard Rodriguez - here is a little bit about questions and answers with Rodriguez (youtube)




5 comments:

  1. I was definitely shocked too, to see that the nuns went into this house to speak with his parents. I work in a daycare too and I definitely see the same thing! I really like how you said, "I know that it could be very frustrating on the teacher and the children trying to understand one another but sometimes you just have to work through it." Good Job!

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  2. I really like how you connected Delpit to Rodriguez. If a nun or a teacher came to my house and asked me to stop speaking Spanish to my child and convert to speaking English, I do not know what my response would be. It would be obvious that the teacher would be crossing the line but I think my final reaction would be shock.

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  3. I agree with you that his teachers should not have asked his parents to completely cut the Spanish out of his life. But i do also think that one way or another he did need to learn English, to help him in school and in communicating with his peers and teachers. They did not have to do it in such a drastic way.

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  4. I totally agree, for teachers the language barrier can be frustrating but the way they went about handling the situation was completely wrong. Good job on your blog!!

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  5. I like that you reflected on Rodriguez's article and related it to your own personal experiences. It was very interesting to see how you deal with some of the same issues that Rodriguez mentioned in the daycare that you work at

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