Professor Travis
English 100
18 March 2016
Bilingual Education, Good or Bad? Both. In his autobiography, Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez discusses his early life as the son of Mexican immigrant parents and the beginning of his schooling in Sacramento, California. Knowing only a finite number of English words, the American life is an entirely new atmosphere for Rodriguez and his family. Throughout his book, Rodriguez undergoes a series of changes and revelations that not only hurts him but enhances him. It’s the journey of a young man who experiences alienation that changes his way of life before assimilating into the world of education. Rodriguez was submitted into a first-rate Catholic school in the white suburbs of Sacramento, …show more content…
I agree with Rodriguez that your heritage will forever remain your identity but it is possible to have multiple identities in a sense of becoming accustomed to wherever you are. You can embrace your new profound identity and in a sense of individualism in order to succeed in life. Bilingual education to me is important because not only does it teach you to speak a universal language in America but also teaches you societal norms. Reason being is that once you’ve learned the proper language, mannerism, and culture you can choose to be the person you want to be. According to a writer at Kars4kids, which is an educational blog for parents, Merle Huerta suggests that “Bilingual education makes kids more adaptable and flexible in a changing environment.” (Huerta). With that being said, being bilingual can have adaptive benefits. The improvements in the cognitive and sensory process from bilingual experience may help students or anyone learning English to better process information in the environment. Furthermore, bilingual education can help train the brain by learning and inhibiting a new language which allows bilingual people to access newly learned vocabulary. In addition to benefits of Bilingual education Matthew Lynch, who is an author of The Call to Teach and editor of The Edvocate, states in his article that bilingual education, “helps remove international language barriers.” (Lynch). Lynch argues that bilingual education has cultural benefits to people learning two languages together. People who come from households that have English as a primary language can lend their language expertise to friends from Spanish-speaking homes, and vice versa. Overall in Rodriguez’s perspective, I understand that what once was his sacred and private language became something almost non-existent to him was abhorrent. Not only was language was changed but also his