Blog #5

The article I am going to respond to is called "Chicana English." It tells the story of a young women who has her language constantly berated by both sides of society. This double sided conviction is what stuck out to me the most in this article. The fact that not only does the american society oppress foreigners for their culture, but also that her own family would denounce her for speaking English. In the article her family says that she has destroyed her culture by speaking the language of her oppressors. While I can see where they are coming from, they are also doing the exact thing that they hate so much: oppressing. According to the article, many Spanish speaking Mexicans consider the variation of Spanish called: "Chicano Spanish" as a mutilation of the Spanish language and is used only by those okay with being oppressed. Chicano Spanish has derived over centuries of Spanish and Anglo speaking people. Over these centuries a new version of the Spanish language has been born. Chicano speakers use different words that normal Spanish speakers do not. Chicano speakers also have different variations of the same word in Spanish. While definitely different, I do not think that speaking as such should be considered wrong. I think that everyone should be entitled to speak the language they want and how they want. Rather than forcing a certain people to conform to your version of a language, I think that more time should be spent trying to help people understand this culture. Instead of fixing people's use of a language, we should fixing people's understanding of language. This is especially hard for teachers. Teachers require the ability to understand students, and vice versa. Where is the line drawn from understanding to oppressing. In my opinion students should have to be able to understand the common language being used by their teachers and peers. However, I do not agree with suppressing a students cultural influences. Teaching the common tongue should only go along with teaching the importance of your own culture. I also think this has to be a joint effort between the student's parents and teachers. If they are both not on the same exact page, you get instances happening like the one I previously described. Where a students is told to learn English and stop speaking Spanish by the school's teachers and administration; while a students parents call them traitors for giving up their cultural heritage. Languages are not an either/or type of thing; they can co-exist. Today's society has this false dichotomy of master our language or leave. There is no reason that someone cannot love both their culture and their home.