In 1970, the United States government came up with the word to describe a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. This is a word we are all familiar with when it comes to referring to this group of people. This word is “Hispanic.” At the present time, the United States Census Bureau defines race in five categories and does not specifically define Hispanic with a category of its own. The categories include: white…
United States are told not to express themselves in their native language as “linguistic terrorism” since it instills fear and shame in their native language. In order to understand the important language in culture, it must be defined first. Language is defined as the way words are pronounces, combined, utilized and understood by a community (Merriam-Webster 2018). In the chapter…
My two sides American and Honduran People thing is a very unique experience being in born in the USA and having a Hispania or Latino background. In a ways is very unique having two different background; I get to learn two different language English and Spanish. I get to know my American culture and my Honduran culture. It is not always easy being Hispanic American. A good reason being born in the United States is that I have more opportunities here. The downside is that I did not get to grow up…
many generations of his family to come. My great-grandfather’s perseverance and courage always inspires me to always work hard. Although my first language was English, I am learning Spanish now so I can become more connected with my heritage. I never had much of a chance to learn about the Dominican Republic from my grandparents because of the language barrier between us. My Dominican background is important to me because of the rich culture. A benefit of being Dominican is being embraced into a…
Most people today know more than one language, no matter where they originated from. Language is learned to make communication with others much easier and to know more. People who are bilingual learned the language from their families and while some identify with the culture in which the language is from, others do not. When someone learns a language they also learn about the culture and race. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, her language is her cultural identity and even…
Many of the students who speak languages other than English speak Spanish, and others are familiar with the language. In the United States Spanish is the second most common spoken language behind English and thus it may be helpful for students to develop fluency in this language both for their studies and out of the classroom. After research and discussion among a panel of educators including Franklin’s…
Guatemalan mother’s leg, telling me “Todo ba estar bien mijio.” translated in English as “son, everything will be fine.” Only I knew understood my mother 's words since she spoke in Guatemalan Spanish instead of the common Mexican Spanish. Mexican and Guatemalan Spanish ultimately are very much similar because it is spanish except some conversational phrases and terminology are different. This difference is due to the history of the two cultures which some are unaware of; Guatemala denotes…
Spanish is forever a part of the Americas’ history. For centuries, the language reigned over Central America, western South America, and the Caribbean, embedding itself deeply into cultures of modern countries in the region, such as: Mexico, Chile, Cuba, and so forth. However, despite Spanish’s impressive influence over such swaths of land, Hispanic descendants from this Latin America faced persecution within the United States predominantly in the late 1900s. Two authors, Marjorie Agosín and…
people just accept you for the way you are? I was in for a rude awakening for my childhood years. When you’re Hispanic and you tell someone you don’t know Spanish, they give you this look when they first found out Santa wasn’t real. Sure it's not common for a Hispanic kid to not know Spanish but I didn't know it was a big deal to others. Learning Spanish never even crossed my mind, I just lived life as is. I moved to Berwyn as a kid from Cicero when back then it was mostly Caucasian dominated.…
demonstrated when the minority group suppresses their language, food, lifestyle, and way of living in order to adapt to a different system with a total different regime than the one they were used to practice (p. 49). Usually, this happens when they move to another territory. Secondary structural assimilation is defined when the minority group adapts to the new culture they decided to reside and starts to educate himself or herself to learn a new language, work, and even make a “good impression”…