Bilingual…ism
Being bilingual is a cool thing; being able to balance two languages back and forth is considered an asset towards any situation. But not all people find it “okay”, well they do, but not all languages, especially accents. Many believe that the British accent or French accent is the best thing ever. But why do some find it down upon the Spanish accent? They’re just accents. Some believe the Spanish accent is strong which makes Spanish difficult to understand. But its not.
In book, Borderland/La Frontera there is a chapter “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, Gloria visits the dentist and is frustrated just because her dentist is complaining that she has a strong accent and kind of maybe does not understand her, aka being“…strong and stubborn…” Despite the fact that the dentist was referring to her accent, her reaction makes it obvious that the problems she has had with the way she speaks causes her to be constantly conscious of how other people view her. She proudly believes her accent is something that defines her. Anzaldua explains “Chicano Spanish is a border tongue which developed naturally” as it is not her fault. Even when she was a child, she had many stereotypes to overcome because of her accent.
Gloria remembers being caught and “…being sent to the corner of the classroom for talking back to the Anglo teacher…” as she was just speaking on how to pronounce her name correctly in Spanish. Her teacher replied saying, “If you want to be American, speak ‘American’. If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.” Her teacher made speaking Spanish look like a negative thing not just towards her but towards around America as well as I took that offensively.
Spanish is somewhat similar to Italian, but did you know that Spanish is also very similar to Arabic? I know right? Crazy! So I basically speak Arabic. Check out the video down below as some terms are pronounced the same way.
Speaking Spanish is a good thing in America because one can get jobs easily by just being able to speak not just Spanish but any two languages at least, being bilingual. One of the reasons I got hired at my job was that I speak Spanish. In my hometown community, the majority of customers we have are Spanish speakers as sometimes I translate for my co-workers and even co-managers. Not only do I translate while being on the clock but off the clock as well. I remember translating at the store for my dad as a child and to this day I still do. It does not bother me but the way the workers look at me translating to my dad in Spanish like in disgust but at the same time their face with eyes widening and everything thinking “How does her parent not know English and she does?”
Spanish was my first language and yeah it was kind of difficult growing up. My dad could not translate my homework for me as it was all English so I was confused, including my dad. I had to get tutoring since I knew more Spanish than English as both were difficult to grow up with. Spanish at home. English at school. But around the age of 7, I knew how to balance both pretty well. Until now. Sometimes. It depends.
Going away to college has made me forget some Spanish words here and there. I’m always asking my brother, “How do you say this in Spanish?” or “What’s this mean in English?”. Going away to college, I only pretty much speak English, not really practicing my Spanish. Only when I call home to my dad is when I speak Spanish, and it’s not even for long because I can’t say much in Spanish. Not all Spanish is the same Spanish by the way. Even Gloria from “How to Tame a Wild Tongue has caught that. She “…heard two women, a Puerto Rican and a Cuban say the word ‘nosotras’…” (meaning “us” or “we”)as Gloria did not know the word existed. Chicanas use ‘nosotros’ whether we’re male or female, but compared to Puerto Ricans and Cubans, they use the feminine word instead of the masculine plural as language is a male discourse.
In conclusion, a person’s language is part of their identity and it is up to that certain individual to value their language, accent or no accent; you cannot allow others to dictate what is and is not the right way to speak. Yes communication is key but it does not matter what language, whether it be Spanish or English or even German- what matters is getting the message across. Each person’s language tells a story behind their culture and ancestors, which makes them unique than everyone else.
