Cultural Differences In Latino Culture

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Latino America Spanish is spoken by a diverse range of cultures—however, these cultures come together, united through their shared values, to create what we know as the Latino community. Though learning the language is principal in a Spanish class, learning about the culture of that language is almost equally as important. If you do not understand a culture, you can never truly understand its language. Therefore, knowing the significance and effectiveness of bilingual education and some of the fundamental characteristics of the Latino community is the perfect spot to begin a journey into the depths of the Spanish language and the culture surrounding it. Before high school, I knew next-to-nothing about the Hispanic population nor Latino …show more content…
Today, traditional gender roles are gaining disapproval like wildfire; they are viewed as antiquated ways of making children conform to something that is seen as “normal.” Because machismo is seemingly engraved into Latino culture, it may be difficult to overcome. Boys are brought up into thinking that they must be strong, nearly indestructible, protectors of the family, unfazed by their own emotions—which can be damaging to someone’s emotional well-being. On the same note, another potentially harmful characteristic of Latino culture is fatalismo. Though I have no familiarity with this term, I learned from “What’s in a name?” that this may lead to children’s school performance being viewed as “innate characteristics”; this could be potentially harmful to a child’s education due to the fact that if they perform badly in school, nothing may be done to help that child to succeed. I believe this could potentially harm a child’s future; they may have all the potential in the world, but just need an extra “push” to get them going in the right direction. Nevertheless, though I, as an outsider, may see machismo and fatalismo attitudes as deleterious, they are still a significant and generally accepted part of Latino culture; understanding these viewpoints can help us understand major components and gain general familiarity of the inner-workings of Latino …show more content…
First, I asked what they thought the number one problem that the Latino population in the U.S. faces today is. Two of the four participants said the greatest problem that Latinos face is discrimination; the remaining two participants stated that immigration and the general path to citizenship is the most substantial problem. In actuality, I think these two answers are connected: Latinos face discrimination today due to the stigma surrounding immigration; they are generalized and assumed to have all immigrated here illegally. Secondly, I asked, “If a bilingual schooling program was available in your community (like a program where 80-90% of the school day was taught in Spanish, up until 4th grade), would you want your children (or younger siblings, etc.) to attend that program? Why or why not?” The answers to this question seemed to vary based on how much the participant knew about bilingual education. Participants who knew more about the effectiveness of bilingual education said that they would absolutely want their children to attend a bilingual education program, defending their answers with statements like “young children have a greater ability to learn a new language,” or a more general, “there are many benefits of bilingualism.” Contrarily, participants who answered no defended their answers with statements like “teaching Spanish to
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