Week 7- Difficulty paper

In reading the story of “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” by Gloria Anzaldua, I had some complexity to comprehend some words, sections and even the cultural differences.Since I am bilingual as well, I can relate to the main intention of the story. However, I don’t speak Spanish and not very familiar with their culture. Therefore, it makes it hard to follow the passage that are discussing about how their language has been changing to a new version. For instance, Anzaldua writes, “I want to speak English. Pa’….” (103). Since the rest of the sentence is written in Spanish, I found it hard to grasp what the mother was saying. It is very obvious that how challenging was for the students who had accents and being mistreated because of it. Anzaldua writes, “If you want to be American, speak American …” (103). In one section, Anzaldua explains, “Chicanos, after 250 years of Spanish/ Anglo colonization …” (106). Anzaldua also exemplifies, “Chicanos and other Spanish speakers also shift ll to y and z to s” (107). It was tricky for me to follow through this section because it was mostly talked about how the pronunciation of words changed and how some syllables were omitted or added over the 250 years. In another section of the story, Anzaldua writes, “Chicanas feel uncomfortable talking in Spanish to Latinas, afraid of their censure” (108). I got confused between Chicana and Latina whom I believed they were the same. The confusion of distinguishing Chicana and Latina, threw me off the track and left me wondered about the differences.

With the respect of the confusion of the vocabulary, I could still relate to the process of adopting a new language and culture. I read the story for few times to ensure understanding the message of the author. I also consider the big picture to bond to the core of the narrative.  Therefore, by picturing the story, I can overcome the difficulty of not understanding of the section. I also analyze if not understanding the vocabulary or the passage would impact the whole message or not. These strategies have been helpful for me to be able to keep on reading and stay interested in finishing it.

Earlier, I mentioned how Anzaldua writes, “We leave out initial syllable, saying tar for estar …” (107). How I was able to analyze the passage and make it easier to follow was, I tried to connect it to my own language and the changes have been made into it. I totally relate to the suffrage, confusion and mortified situations Chicano experienced since English is my second language.