“How does the journalist feel about forced language assimilation (i.e. the view/expectation that everyone in America must learn English) and what does she believe is the relationship between accent, identity, and power? What do you notice about the journalist’s own language? Do you agree with her views?”
At the start of the article, the journalist started off with her own experiences that she faced with her family. She talked about how she tried changing herself and the way she communicated just so she ‘belongs’ in the country.
However, she later writes about how she thinks assimilation is cruel to people and for suvival. She doesn’t like the way Donal Trump thinks everyone should speak English and understand it. She believes that if someone is trying to take away you accent or the way the communicate, then they’re also trying to take away your identity. She believes that taking away your language is taking away your powers. She believes that those are the ways you tell someone their voice doesn’t matter. Those certain things; language, accent, and power are there to show the people that they have the right to be here in this country.
Something I realised about the journalist’s own language was the way she structured her words. I could tell she was really trying to convey her opinions to the readers. Why they should feel the same way as she does. The usage of her words such as ‘abuelita’ instead of ‘grandma’ in this article also conveys a message to me. It tells me that she has accepted who she is and the way she was born to be. She has changed from who she was before; not wanting to speak or do anything that had to do with Spanish things, but now, she has put everything aside and doesn’t care about what others think.
I agree with her views because everyone should belong wherever they want to be in. For example, she wrote about how her abuelita always comes visit her sister and her even though she lives somewhere else. When she does commute, her abuelita doesn’t care about what other people think. She just goes on with her work. I think her abuelita ROCKS!!! In my opinion, everyone should speak whatever language they want and still be loved and cared.