Rich-heard Road-ree-guess

In the article, "Hunger of Memory," Richard Rodriguez recalls a time in his life when he was unable to understand English and the trouble he faced. This had a theme that has returned over and over from the different theorists, the idea of "learning the rules" in order to succeed like the people of the culture in power. When he still didn't know English, Richard mentioned how he heard the sounds of English spoken around him. How it was the language of los gringos and he wasn't welcomed to a level of understanding of it. He was embarrassed by his parents' broken English when they went out in public. However, when he was at home, he was comforted by the "family language" of Spanish, something they could share intimately and be warmed by.

However, this comfort didn't last for long. Being a member of the unprivileged group in the American society, he (and his sisters) were forced into learning American English. Their parents refused to speak Spanish at home anymore by request of a nun from their catholic school. The comfort of Spanish at his home was gone. He had an epiphany of his own one day and spoke aloud in class, confidently in English. He says this was when he began to lose his Spanish identity.

The question this article arose for me was, by forcing students from different cultures and language backgrounds to abandon their native tongue for English, are we destroying what makes them unique? America is based on different cultures joining together to create a richer culture. Why can't their languages be included into our current culture? Yes they should learn English in order to better fit into the culture we have established in this country, but it shouldn't be at the cost of losing the ability to still connect with their family.