We as American’s have always prided ourselves with our freedoms and ability to voice our opinions. But in some areas considered to be un-American if someone is speaking in their native tongue rather than speaking english.
Myriam Marquez’s essay, “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public”, gives a good insight into why people might be offended by people speaking in native tongues. Marquez explains that many people get offended because they feel like they are being talked about in a language they cannot understand. When in reality, the real reason for doing so is to preserve their culture and to embrace their roots. For many latinos, english is their second language so it’s much easier to simply talk to friends and family in their native tongue. The United States has no official language, so forcing english upon all U.S. citizens would be more un-American.Marquez explains the reason why they haven’t adopted english as their official family language because she thinks it is the matter of respect for her parents and comfort in her cultural roots.
So she thinks it’s good to maintain spanish in their official family language between the family. It also much more comfort to speak spanish between her family and it is more natural for them.If I were standing next to these three people and they were speaking in Spanish, I would feel little lonely there. Especially if those three people were your friends, then it would be rude. I wouldn’t mind at all if I didn’t know them and they were speaking in Spanish because it’s their option to choose what language they are speaking. If you don’t know those three people that doesn’t even belong to you what they are talking about.I suppose U.
S. government has seen diversity in the U.S. and they think it is very important for the country itself to have it. So if there was an official language it could be much more difficult for people from different country to come to the U.S. if they cannot speak their own language. Especially if there are families whose origin is for example in Finland so it is lot easier for the family to speak Finnish to each other.
Also it is much more comfort and they are maintaining their culture. Of course if there are one or more people in the house who don’t understand the language then it is rude to speak their own language. I think there is no need for such legislation now because then the U.
S. would lose their diversity. “Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public” is powerful because it is geared toward people who are and are not bilingual. It shows people who are not bilingual a little bit of what it’s like being bilingual and why bilingual people speak their native language in America. It is also easily relatable to the people who are bilingual and may feel misunderstood. This writing is more conversational and informal, this makes this special genre easy to read and process.
Marquez uses a tone that is pleasant and situations that anyone can relate to, for example, “…shopping with my mother or standing in line with stepdad to order fast food…” This writing is informative without any clutter of sophisticated words or phrases which is greatly affective to reader.
