9 thoughts on “Homework for Wednesday, October 19th”

1. After reading “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, I really could connect to what Anzaldua talks about in the section “Oye como ladra: el lenguaje de la frontera”. Me personally, my mother and father came from the frontera and they would speak what Chicanos would call Spanglish which means mixing sentences with Spanish and English. I also used to talk Spanglish when I was trying to be fluent with both languages. Aside from Spanish, accents also play a role on how a person speaks. My mother has this accent when speaking English and the author mention about how they had to go through this program that was meant to get rid of accents and my mother is slowly but thoroughly losing her accent. But I don’t think her accent would be gone. The author gives us examples of language use, Standard English, slang, working class. I really think that the kind of language used depends on who you speak to. For example, when I speak to my parents, I speak to them with Spanish only. Anywhere else I would speak English. However when I speak to my friends, I tend to use slang sometimes.

   • The assignment asked for a response that was a minimum of 400 words. This is not even half that.

2. After our discussion on Monday, I realized that I relate to one of the authors that were talking about how Chicanos believe that their Spanish is less than others who speak Spanish as well. Whenever I watch TV shows they make the Mexicans talk a certain way, almost making fun of them. When Spanish people, with their blonde hair, blue eyes are on the TV they make them seem fancy and what not. They’re almost like the British people of Spanish speaking. British people are usually praised for their fancy accent just like Spanish people are. But when I see a Chicano speaking on the TV they have tattoos on their face, they are portrayed as “cholos” live in a low income area and what not. This doesn’t help me feel any better about myself and my culture, and yes it might be a joke but it is so played out and isn’t funny. Just like how Dominican people tend to speak Spanish really fast, the media uses that and turns it into a joke while praising Spanish people. They almost make it seem like having an accent is bad, or if you don’t speak Spanish the “right way” it’s “funny”.

   • The assignment called for a minimum of 400 words. This is about half that.

3. The first few years of living in the U.S. made me consider changing my first and last names. My first name is only four letters, but so many people mispronounce it. A lot of people consider me Russian. I was born there, but ethnically I am not. My last name is a whole different story. There were only six people who were able to pronounce it properly from the first try. Every time I try to correct somebody I hear a phrase such as “Well, it is not my fault it is spelt like that.” There was a time when I was embarrassed of my last name and every time a teacher would try to say my full name for attendance I wanted to vanish into thin air. Now I am kind of starting to like my name. I think it suits me very nicely.

   • The assignment called for 400 words, minimum. This is less than half that.

4. The section of Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame a Wild Tounge” that resonated with my personal life the most was “Linguistic Terrorism” which starts on page seventy-three. This section talks about how the dialect of Spanish that the Chicanas speak is seen as inferior, as well as looked down upon by the Latina community, and how the stigmas attached to Chicano Spanish affect its speakers. I can relate this to my personal life because of my experience in Pakistan. I went to Pakistan when I was about twelve years old, and we went straight to my father’s house from the airport. The part of Pakistan that my dad resides in speaks Punjabi as their primary language so I spoke to the people there in Punjabi. After my family and I spent a few days ago, we ascended to the mountainous area of Pakistan where my mom lives. Over there, they speak Pashto but since I was so used to speaking Punjabi the past couple of days, I spoke with the natives in Punjabi instead. I realized that they didn’t understand what I was saying so I switched to speaking Pashto and thought nothing of it. But for the rest of my stay, I noticed that local people’s behavior towards me had changed. They would keep their distance and not offer the same level of hospitality towards me. Perplexed by this, I asked my mom about this. She told me that in this area, Punjabi is seen as the language of the farmers, dirty and uneducated, and people who live in the village. In essence, there was a heavy negative connotation to Punjabi, and my ability to understand and speak it has caused them to associate that same negative connotation with me. Being informed about both languages and their separate cultures, I knew that language didn’t determine these things but the people had other bigoted ideas in mind. Even though Pashto and Punjabi both have derived from Urdu, which is the national language of Pakistan, vastly different views on the opposite side have come out. When someone only knows about their side and doesn’t try to understand the other side, misinterpretation and false ideas are common. Just as people who speak Punjabi and Pashto are no different, people who speak Chicano Spanish and regular Spanish are no different, someone just has to put in the effort to understand both sides of the same coin.

5. From the reading “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” the essay part titled, “Overcoming the tradition of silence” demonstrates something in my life that I have encountered. The reading states,” the first time I heard two women, a Puerto Rican and a Cuban, say the word “Nosotras,” I was shocked. I had not known the word existed. Chicanas use Nosotros whether we’re male or female. We are robbed of our female being by the masculine plural. Language is a male discourse” (Gloria).This portrays the gender inequality in this section, including how sexism is one of them. The audience can see how the culture into which you are born informs you that some narratives do not fit and how women suffered from being seen as inferiors. Being part of the South Asian community, I can relate to Gloria and have encountered similar conflicts. South Asian women and many women from different backgrounds lack the tools, knowledge, and agency necessary to speak up for themselves and fight for their rights since they are subject to severe gender restrictions and limits. For example, Malala Yousafzai is portrayed as an enthusiastic supporter of girls’ education who has traversed the globe to promote gender equality. From my experience, I can say that staying or going out late is something I face. My brothers are allowed to remain out quite late, but my family won’t support it for me and would make it seem like I did something wrong while my brothers would get a small lecture. When I would question my mother why my younger brother could go out, she would say that “ good girls stay at home more often, and that I can do that all once I get married”. Furthermore, viewing women wanting to be independent isn’t seen in the South Asian community. I’ve seen in many of my family members how the husband is the main caretaker in a marriage and how the woman is supposed to be silent during conflicts or when something is wrong. All of this taught me that it’s important to defy generational norms. Women should learn how to be self-sufficient and independent. Culture or society shouldn’t allow men to be seen as superior. People of all genders have equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities. Gloria said how surprised she was when “Nosotras” was used, and I can only imagine how shocked and relieved I would be if the older generation began to appreciate women and them as equal to men.

6. In the reading “how to tame a wild tongue” There was a specific paragraph in page 69 in the section under the “tradition of silence” reading that speaks on having a “big mouth”, or talking back to one’s parents was a big no no in the Hispanic culture. In the reading it emphasizes “ser habladora was to be a gossip and a liar, to talk too much. Muchachitas bien criadas, well bred-girls do not talk back. Es una falta de respeto to talk back to one’s mother or father.” This of course applies to me in the male sense, how men are supposed to be raised as educated, respectful, elegant, charming young boys then into men. But me on the other hand when I was younger I was always on the opposite side of that Hispanic saying because with my parents or at school with my teachers even to this day I still find myself catching a nasty attitude or talking back when I am at my most angry point which just leads me into more trouble. I would get punished by my parents, written up at school, got a phone call home, got reported to the dean….etc and it was a trait in me that took on for a while simply because I did not think before I speak. Some would say it is a toxic trait of mine, knowing that sometimes I like to add fuel to the fire and start arguments for no apparent reason. In other words a conflict creator. Or in the lying sense it was a non taming action of mine because lying used to just be my thing I would lie and lie and never take action for my responsibilities and never take the blame for things I caused, even to this day I consider myself a good liar and since the day I have matured I tell myself to be honest and “man” up and admit when you are wrong. Connecting back to the title of the reading, how to claim a wild tongue in terms of my personal life, my tongue couldn’t be claimed in the sense of attitude and constant lying. Sometimes I am able to catch what I am supposed to say, sometimes it slips out and it gets me into more trouble than I already am in.

Comments are closed.