Wild Tongue

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Gloria Anzaldua, “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” essay explain to us the reader the ways in which she faced many difficulties speaking different languages while growing up. In her essay she states, “Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having always to translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish, and as long as I have to accommodate the English speakers rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate” (Anzaldua, 39). Here she states one of the ways in which speaking English and Spanish was one major difficulty for her. She explains how her tongue is not free to switch form Spanish to English whenever she speaks with someone or write in both languages. …show more content…
A great example of this was when I was in high school. My friends and I most of the times used to speak Spanish to each other’s, but when it was time for us to be in class and work on assignments, we always spoke in English. If one can say, for me “code switching” is like living a double life. This is because whenever I am home, I am forced to speak in Spanish only because my parents don’t speak the English language, but when I’m with around my cousins, friends, school or anywhere outside my home, I feel like I’m a different person because I am speaking in another language. Although this, I believe that my home language identifies who I am are and where I came from. Because of this, I take pride in both my home language and the English language because they both represent a piece of me and my achievement in life so far.
One can agree with Anzaldua in which the language you speak is a part of your culture and it represent who you truly are. After all, Gloria Anzaldua is a perfect example of how one can take pride in their native language despite if people accept it or not. Coming from a point of view in where I know how difficult it can be to switch language, I can agree with Gloria Anzaldua when she states “Wild tongues can't be tamed, they can only be cut out” (Anzaldua,
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