Aria, by Richard Rodriguez

"From the doorway of another room, spying the visitors, I noted the incongruity-the clash of two worlds, the faces and voices of school intruding upon the familiar setting of home." (page35)


     This is such a sad moment. Rodriguez is witnessing school coming in on his home life. This moment changes everything for him and his family. The nuns intruded on the Rodriguez's family in a sense that they changed the dynamic. It was originally a safe place for the children to speak freely in Spanish and be understood. After that visit however, they started speaking
English at home so they could better speak it outside in school and other places. Home should always be a safe place where you are free to be you. Having the nuns come in and change that is not right. Also the parents did not have to go to such a drastic change. They could have spoken English at certain learning times then have the rest of the time in Spanish.


 

  "But my father was not shy, I realized, when I'd watch him speaking Spanish with relatives. Using Spanish, he was quickly effusive. Especially when talking with other men, his voice would spark, Ricker, Rare alive with sounds. In Spanish, he expressed ideas and feelings he rarely revealed in English. With firm Spanish sounds, he conveyed confidence and authority English would never allow him." (page 37, 38)

     People are usually not shy when they are confident and comfortable in the situation or with a certain group of people. His father was not shy but didn't feel at ease speaking in English. It's something foreign to him as another language may be to us. There is a fear to mess up or be made fun of when learning another language when others know it or pick it up easily. Mr. Rodriguez spoke with a spark and detail in his own language. It is a part of who you are.
     For me I can only kind of relate. I am half Syrian and grew up in a church with all Arabic speaking people. For the majority of them, Arabic is their first language. Their accents are strong and there is even a different Mass at 11:00 that is in Arabic. I never knew what they were saying despite hearing it all the time when I went there. I knew a select few words my dad taught me but he doesn't know too much either. Often times I would be standing by someone I knew and they would have a full out conversation with another person in Arabic and I would just be awkwardly standing there. I don't think they ever realized I couldn't understand a word they said. 
     When I started college I choose to take Arabic for my language requirement so I would maybe know some of the things they are saying and that I have been hearing growing up. I felt like a baby in that class. Arabic is an incredibly difficult language to learn because it does not relate to English or anything I know at all. There is a different alphabet with 28 letters and sounds some of which if you don't speak Arabic you can't pronounce. You would have to train your mouth to pronounce and make the correct sound. The alphabet is different symbols, there is no abcdefg.. I had to learn the letters individually and sound out the sounds of Arabic words with all the different rules and accents. There's so much to it! If you ask my friends and family how I did with that class they will tell you how frustrated I was. . Here is the alphabet.. (You read from right to left.) 

 

     I struggled alot in that class (Arabic one and two) But it gave me a glimpse into how challenging it is to try to learn a different language! It was the coolest hing to be able to slowly progress and understand bits and pieces here and there. I was so excited at the rare times when I actually knew the answer. I have so much respect for those who learn other languages. It's truly incredible.

" Weeks after, it happened: One day in school I raised my hand to volunteer an answer. I spoke out in a loud voice. And I did not think it remarkable when the entire class understood. That day, I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had been only days earlier. The belief. the calming assurance that I belonged in public, had at last taken hold" (page36)

     That is so cool! That must have been so satisfying for him! After weeks of trying to understand and speak easily in English it finally clicked! I never reached this point in Arabic but I can only imagine how amazing that was for him. His life had become so much easier in a sense of communication in school at that moment. Something to point out here is how he used the word "disadvantaged". In the conversations that we have been having in class, this word has been talked about a lot. There are different ways to be disadvantaged but it is all the same concept of trying to get to or fit in the advantaged group. It would be the same situation if, say, we went to China and tried to jump in the school system. We would try to understand first off some parts of the language or what they were saying to us and then try to learn what the fluent speakers were learning on top of it.
     I felt disadvantaged in my class when two the the three other students in the class spoke fluent Arabic having moved here from Syria. They would have conversations in Arabic with each other and the teacher sometimes. All I could do was sit there and wait until they switched to English. It's actually like a claustrophobic feeling. It's an interesting experience and I definitely felt disadvantaged and left out. And I didn't speak in class half as much as I do in this FNED class. I often wondered if they felt cool or superior because they knew something so well that I didn't at all. That's probably just me but again, who knows. Here's a cool link to check out of someone else's experience with this..      storytimewithjohn

Below is the word disadvantaged in Arabic :

المحرومين

Remember it reads right to left, that is why it is set up like this   

For class: 
     Do you think the family handled the situation in a good way? How about the nuns, should they have talked to the parents about Richard learning English at home?