Reflection- Aria by Richard Rodriguez

While reading Aria by Richard Rodriguez I was very familiar with the similar situation. Growing up Portuguese was my first language and we spoken it all the time and rarely spoke English at home. So when I attend kindergarten I didn’t know that much English. But this lead me to struggle that first year and when it came time to graduate kindergarten my parents chose to keep me back because I wasn’t reading and writing at a good level as a kindergartner should. So I can relate to Richard very much in this article and how he was afraid to speak in class and was very shy because I was the exact same way. And I’m sure that just like my parents they didn’t teach him English as a first language because they didn’t know it well and wanted him to learn it the proper way. My father came here when he was 9 years old and my mother was 16 years old. My father went to middle and high school but my mother didn’t and in Portugal they only had high school till the 4^th grade so her education level is not as high. My father speaks very good English but my mother’s English is broken and she has a heavy accent. She only took one English speaking course. My parents help me learn English just like Richards but it is very hard to learn a language that is not native and haven’t been speaking your whole life.

After awhile of speaking English at home I became very use too it just like Richard did. I remember telling my parents when they spoke in Portuguese “Stop speaking Portuguese you live in America!”  I never understood why they keep speaking in it but as I got older I realized it was just what they are use too and if I we’re to more to another country I would most likely speak English in my home. But I do think that it is important for children to speak English first or at least know it before they enter school. It is important because they won’t struggle as much , be shy or afraid, can speak to the other children and make more friends and just to learn better in the when they are young and in the future. But I do feel like it is important to learn a different language also. For me if I didn’t know Portuguese I wouldn’t be able to speak with my grandparents who do not know English. Still till this day my parents speak Portuguese at home and to me and my sisters and I don’t even realize they do it has become so second nature and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Does anyone feel like English shouldn’t be a child’s first language?

This shows a teacher teaching his students English by songs, speaking games and fun

Reflection

When reading Jonathan Kozol’s Amazing Grace I felt very sad the whole time. I never thought that that many kids were in poverty in Bronx, New York.  Only seven out of eight hundred kids didn’t not qualify for reduced lunches.  This number is so shocking to me. It is crazy to think that in our own country that this is going on.  When Jonathan met a father of four  when talking about the cold and sleeping in the winter he said “You just cover up…and hope you wake up the next morning”.  The thought of this makes me crazy how someone could be living like this and how much we take for granted every day.  This gentleman had a one month year old also and just bundled him up in a winter coat and gloves and put him in a sleeping bag with him. I could never imagine me doing this or that anyone had to do this, how is this even allowed? I remember in the summer when my air conditioner broke and how miserable I was but these people have cockroaches crawling on their walls. I think I would die if I ever had that happen to me, but for them they don’t know any better.

                Then Jonathan met this little boy named Cliffie. He was only seven years old and acted much older then he really was. Jonathan walked around town with him and he knew where everything was, where the bad and good places were to go. At seven years old my mother wouldn’t let me walk across the street alone never mind rooming around and where all these people have gotten shoot or where they meet to drug up. I know not everything is the same where I grew up in the little town of Tiverton but I didn’t think letting your child walk the streets of New York at seven was OK anywhere.

                All the stories in this article made me very sad and to know that this goes on so close to us. These little kids have to grow up so fast and their parents also have to go through hard times. Also after reading this it makes me want to move to New York or anywhere there is poverty like this and help these kids and their families. Not with only money but with my time. And yes it will not be an easy task but I willing to try. Also I think every little bit can help and I hope that one day I can help kids and their families like this.

What was everyone’s feeling of this article: sad, mad, happy?

Me :)

Hi, I'm Raquel & I'm a Sophomore. I live here in Providence. I love music and going to concerts & I'm very excited about becoming a teacher!