Week 12: The #13 lives of multilingual children in public school

Week 12

The #13 lives of multilingual children in public schools: "The Girl Who Wouldn't Sing" (pg. 13-21); "Prospectus", (pg. 22); "Learning Silence" (p.23), "No Questions Asked" (pg.70); and "English Con Salsa" (287).

Choose two of these stories and write a reflection for each and post on your blog. Make sure to label the title of each story or poem and respond to at least two classmates.

“Prospectus”(pg.22)

“Prospectus” written by Joe Nieto is a very touching and deep poem that reflects on the life and ambitions of an American Indian student who, due to the circumstances of his life, has to set up goals in his life at an early stage. According to Santa Ana (2004), Joe Nieto, originally from New Mexico, is a tenth grader young student who attended Chilocco Indian School in Oklahoma. In his poem, Joe narrates the way he used to live in his town. The only dream that he has was that one day he will speak English. I believe that he thinks, like many people who would like to be successful, that speaking the language of the majority would make him successful. It seems that he lives in a poor condition and the only way to succeed is to leave that place and accomplish his goals by learning the language and growing professionally.

“No Question Asked”(pg.70)

“No Question Asked” is poem written by Armand Garnet Ruffo. In this poem, we can see how somebody starts losing their language spontaneously without noticing. He also mentions in his poem the difficulties that people experience daily when they start to speak a different language. I believe that it is challenging to start mastering a language and once you reach your goal, you realize that you have neglected your native language. It seems like you are denying your chance to speak your own primary language. I have noticed that it is very common, especially in young students who are trying to learn their language, for people to forget their own identity. Sometimes they feel that they do not know whether they belong to this country or their own country. I think that they feel disconnected to their own identity and they would prefer to be silent about it.