Struggle Against the English Language Essay

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Struggle Against the English Language Home is the place where one feels loved, cared for and secure. For Rodriguez, it no longer is. Gradually, as he learns English, he turns more American and finds himself in a situation where he can no longer unify with his family. When he speaks Spanish at home with his family members he feels comfortable and warm. He is able to hear Spanish only at home and gives him a sense of joyful return (3). As English becomes the primary language in his home, he begins to see that he is losing the intimate connection with his parents. The joy that comes from his mother’s voice when she calls his name as he enters the house fades away He expresses, “No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness” (6,7). The awkwardness and difficulties of the outside world of not being able to become one of the Americans always unites them at home. Because Spanish isolates them outside from the group. On the contrary, the bond which keeps them connected seems to be broken somewhere in the midst of learning English. For a child, parents are supposed to be the best listeners. For Rodriguez, his heart is filled with heavy sentiments when his parents hardly understand or sometimes misunderstand him completely. In such hopelessness, he prefers to choose not to have contacts with them.

Consequently, Rodriguez’s new found individuality isolates the family. Rodriguez always considers Spanish his first language and a language that is privately spoken by his family members at home. He feels the bond that the Spanish language brings ties them together and be part of the members’ lives. Once English become dominant over Spanish, he become more part of the outside world be it in school or with his neighborhood friends. Home seems like just a place to sleep at night. After English, his mother starts getting acquainted with people around the blocks. His siblings dread rushing home after school as does he. He states, “Gone was the desperate, urgent, intense feeling of being at home; rare was the experience of feeling myself individualized by family members” (6). Slowly, his family members grow more confident and begin finding a place for themselves outside the four walls. No one cares about sharing their daily experiences at home as they have been taken care of among their outside friends. A new atmosphere starts to prevail in his home recreating them as different individual. As the family grows apart, traditionally cultured child especially like Rodriguez, parents are every child’s pride. Learning English is
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