Biligual

BILIGUAL EDUCATION;

Jennifer Duffy

Professor Shimkin

English Composition 1p-6

9.23.05

In the essay "Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood," Richard Rodriguez describes how he feels about his childhood and what he feels about bilingual education. In this essay I will be giving my opinion. Also I will be explaining how Rodriguez feels about bilingual education. I feel that in this essay Richard Rodriguez does not cope with being part of a bilingual education.

Rodriguez tells us about his experience and how he feels. In the essay he moved form Mexico to California, where he was to learn English. When Richard moved to a different area where there were less Mexican-Americans, their neighbors would try to make his family feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Some of his neighbors would say, "Keep your brats away from my sidewalk!" ( 448). Rodriguez also feels that it's hard for him to communicate with many because the majority of the people speak English. He learned some English words, but that was only for when his mother wanted him to go to the market. When he would be around a crowd of people or a bus stop, the noise of the English-speaking people would bother him, so he would move away from them. Richard Rodriguez would hear his family speaking Spanish and felt that he was part of the family because he felt like he belonged.

Later Rodriguez heard of a certain type of education it was called Bilingual education. "It is a program that seeks to permit non-English Ð'-speaking children (many from lower-class homes) to use their "family language" as the language of school (448)".

He didn't want to believe that English would be his language that he would use. The nuns would ask him questions and pick on him. When he would mumble. Not meaning to say a word, they would make him stand, trying to get him to say something. Three months later three nuns came to Rodriguez house and told his parents to encourage their children to speak English One day in Richard Rodriguez class