Native Tongue

NativE tongue

October 19,2015

Native Tongue

Se habla Espanol, an essay written by Tanya Barrientos, takes her readers on a personal journey.From her childhood into her adulthood she struggles with her Latina identity. Born in Guatemala, Tanya entered the United States when she was just three.

Tanya's parents wanted their children to be "all American" (Barrientos p. 58). They made sure of this by assuring they spoke, read and wrote in English only, not speaking their native tongue to their young children ensured they would blend in more easily. Not speaking Spanish somehow made them more American. In this essay, Tanya explains how Americans weren't as culturally tolerant and expected foreigners who entered the country to "leave their cultural baggage at the border" (Barrientos p. 59). Essentially, this is what her parents did. As a result, Barrientos embraces her new American culture and rejects her old one. She states she was proud to not speak her native language. Showing off that she didn't speak Spanish by bragging "yo no habla Espanol" to waitresses and and store clerks (Barrientos p. 58). Barrientos also admits it "made her feel superior. It made her feel American, it made her feel white" (Barrientos p. 58).

In her teenage years, at the direction of her father, Tanya spent a summer in Mexico. Sent there to learn of its beauty, she claims to have learned much more. She was exposed to Mexican music, art and architecture. Even after this experience, it still took her time to learn how to "nurture it"(Barrientos p. 59). That time didn't come until after college. Seeing a shift of the views of ethnicity, so had the views of a young Latina woman who finally came to accept her heritage.

Enrolling herself in Spanish language classes, Barrientos was set on embracing the heritage she was embarrassed of, and this was her way to do...