When I Was Puerto Rican Summary

Words: 561
Pages: 3

While Santiago from “When I was Puerto Rican” felt conflict between her Puerto Rican identity and mainstream American culture, I have also experienced the same situation as hers when I was younger.

In the article “When I was Puerto Rican”, Santiago felt she wasn't part of her the American culture because she knew little Spanish. When she was on her way home from school, she was walking with her friend that also came to New York from Puerto Rico that has the same issue as hers. “She had been in New York for three years but knew as little English as I did”(16). Sooner or later I dealt with the same situation as Santiago’s. Likewise growing up my first language was Spanish. Pre-k to second grade we only spoke Spanish in my class until I reached third grade. By that time the teacher would make us read and write in English. Reading it wasn't as difficult as writing it. Teachers would write in red pen all the
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She seeked help from a couple of her teachers. She had an audition coming up where she would be interviewed and be asked about her and why she decided to follow this career. Her teachers agreed to help her out. In one of her practice, Santiago said the name of her country in the usual way that she says it but her teacher had the need to correct her pronunciation. “Where are you from… Puerto Rico… No, Mrs. Johnson said, Keep your r’s soft. Try again”
(18). Relating to this situation I've had gone through this in a opposite direction. Since I've been speaking English my whole life, my Spanish speaking skill been decreasing. Every time I'm with family or talking to Spanish speaker only, I'll pronounce a word wrong and they'll correct. At times they'll just say “how are you Latina if you can't pronounce things in Spanish”. Every time I hear something like that I feel less confident in my speaking that I end up feeling ashamed about being a natural born Spanish