Se Habla Espanol By Tanya Barrientos

Tanya Barrientos uses the Spanish language and personal experiences in her memoir, “Se Habla Espanol,” to bring attention to the feelings of disconnection non-Spanish-speaking Latinos feel in the community for not knowing the language. Throughout the text, she employs these methods to emphasize feelings of alienation. In Barrientos’s journey to learn Spanish, she was able to “follow 90 percent of the melodrama on any given telenovela”. But true speakers discover my limitations the moment I stumble over a difficult construction...when I get the look. The one that raises the wall between us.” (717). Though she knows the culture, she views the language as a key part of the community. The reactions she receives when she can't find the right construction