Fredrick. O.Adeyemi

Eng 102.8426

01-28-12

The Consequences of Adopting a New Language

The text Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez is an autobiography about his path to education in the United States. He uses educational challenges facing immigrants and the consequences these may bring to explain the difficulty of his transition from speaking Spanish to learning and speaking English. His parents teach him Spanish which is his first language, although he lives and attends school in America. However, he has to learn English. His parents are Mexican emigrants who are fluent in Spanish and rarely speak English, so they have difficulties communicating with their neighbors. Rodriguez realizes that living in America means that he will have to become fluent in English despite the culture of his family because it is the only way he can become a member of American society. He explains what learning a public language has changed in his life.

Richard Rodriguez immediately recognizes the separation of his private and public world in his early life. He considers the inside of his house to be private and the out side of the house to be public. His family and Spanish belong to his private society, and it contains a feeling of intimacy and a sense of belonging. He sees Spanish as a home language that makes him feels special and differentiates him from other people around him. The Los Gringos, school, and the English language are associated with the public society. English is something that is foreign which tells him that he is a foreigner. Several other kinds of separation emerge from this separation of public and private society. There are a separation of sound and word, reason and affection. He explains that when he speaks only Spanish, he is aware that he speaks private language (not