Rodriguez

REFLECTION: 
At first, when I was reading Rodriguez’s story, I thought he was being dramatic. I know, very white and privileged thing to think, I'll admit that. However, the more and more I read, the more I was reminded of something, and the more and more my perspective changed. The more I thought about it, I began to realize that Ive noticed people are more alive and excited when speaking their native tongue, especially recently. Less than a week ago, I watched youtube videos about a man that knows a whole bunch of languages. One language specifically, and which he uses a lot, is Chinese. When he goes to Chinese restaurants, he takes out his camera, speaks the workers’ native tongue, and films them coming to life. (I'll post the link to one of his videos here. He starts speaking English around 5:15. He starts off by speaking English first, but then switches to Chinese.You can just see the woman's face light up after the switch, she even gets giddy. It's really wonderful). I never realized how cold English feels to non-native speakers, and that puts things into perspective for me. They have full conversations with him, and are so surprised and impressed that he knows such a “hard” language. This, along with reading his perspective on things, makes me realize that people of different native languages must feel the same when they hear an English speaker speak a different language, as we are often entitled enough not to learn more than our native tongue. 



Comments

  1. Dr. McKameySeptember 28, 2018 at 6:24 AM

    Interesting points! There is research that says that language can shape your assumptions and thinking -- For instance, there is no past, present, or future tenses in Chinese. Some speculate that saving for the future is more valued in chinese because the future is now (in the language). Makes me wonder about how English informs my own assumptions and beliefs. See this interesting ted talk about languages and saving money: https://www.ted.com/talks/keith_chen_could_your_language_affect_your_ability_to_save_money

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    Replies
    1. Bria ♥September 28, 2018 at 12:48 PM

      That’s a really good point that i never thought about! i didn’t realize different languages shape the way that you think, and that’s honestly mind blowing to me. Thank you for posting that link, i’ll totally give it a look!

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  2. UnknownSeptember 28, 2018 at 11:27 AM

    I have definitely noticed the power of language in my everyday life. I live in a predominantly Spanish- speaking neighborhood and especially at work I find it so hard to communicate. I have customers come up to me and ask if I speak Spanish and every time I say no I just see their faces fall. It shuts down all hopes for conversation or for me giving them information that they might need. It definitely puts my privilege into perspective.

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  3. Nadia XavierSeptember 29, 2018 at 5:55 PM

    I have noticed that people feel more comfortable when speaking their first language and how big of a part it plays in someone's daily life. I agree with you on feeling entitled to our language though. However, I actually have been taking Italian for a couple of years now and I love it!

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  4. DreyaSeptember 30, 2018 at 8:50 PM

    I definitely agree with you saying people are more excited to be speaking their own language. I feel like their being themselves, That's who they are and if that's the language they prefer to speak in, their entitled to that.!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ariel MilletteSeptember 30, 2018 at 9:10 PM

    Even when I used to work we would get customers that would come in who only spoke Spanish and it would make their day for me to even try to communicate to them in the few words and simple phrases that I know.

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