Repose to "ARIA"

“Aria” by Richard Rodriquez is an autobiography of his childhood, which basically shows how English affected his life, and how it brought him closer to the community but further from his family. As he states in the article, “Once I learned public language, it would never again be easy for me to hear intimate family voices.”

Richard Rodriquez describes his childhood as a child of Mexican immigrant parents studying in an English school in America who had problems in communicating at school because he did not know English. In the beginning, Richard was timid because he felt uncomfortable with English. However, with the help of the teachers and family, he started to “raise his hand to volunteer an answer,” and eventually he “moved very far from the disadvantaged child.” After learning the new language, it certainly fortifies his bond with the community and makes him feel like an American citizen, but at the same time, it also weakens his family’s unity. However, he attributes this to his departure from childhood.

Although he admits that he lost the strong intimacy at home with his parents, he emphasizes that the “loss implies the gain.” His entire essay is based on the comparison between “the loss” in private and “the gain” in public.

Rodriguez strongly encourages children of immigrant parents should adopt English, the “public language” as their main language in order to become assimilated in the “public society” and have a better future. He certainly does not agree with “Hispanic American activists” who support a bilingual education for ESL learners. He thinks that that instructing the children in Spanish rather than Spanish might delay their own entrance into the public world of English-speaking society, and hurt them in the long run.

I agree with him because I think school is suppose to be a place for children to prepare themselves for the world outside the comfort of their home. America is a place with diverse culture, and