How to Tame a Wild Tongue

"Until I am free to write bilingually and to switch codes without having to always translate, while I still have to speak English or Spanish when I would rather speak Spanglish, and as long as I have to accommodate the English speaker rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate" (41).

At the beginning of "How to Take a Wild Tongue," Gloria Anzuldula recounts the numerous times her teachers or parents chastised her for speaking Spanish.  In the words of her teacher, who punished Anzuldula for speaking Spanish at recess, "If you want to be American, speak 'American'" (36).  Being a future teacher and a "culturally sensitive" citizen, I couldn't help but be appalled at the attitudes displayed by her mother and teacher.  Cultural identity is important!  Each person is unique.  How could Anzuldula ever possess self-confidence or self-respect if she is not even allowed to respect her own language?

Then I continued reading the rest of the essay.  It was challenging and I was frustrated.  I don't speak a lick of Spanish, and large sections of the essay are written in Spanish, a language I cannot understand.  Some of the text is translated, but much of it is not.  At first I used my trusty Google Translator, but it became so tedious that I ended up sounding out the words and using context clues, which didn't help much.  I was utterly lost, and thought to myself "Why can't she just write in English!"

Anzuldula must have picked up that self-respect and self-confidence despite her parents and teachers, since she is clearly comfortable speaking her own blend of English and Spanish.  She wrote that "... as long as I have to accommodate the English speaker rather than having them accommodate me, my tongue will be illegitimate" (41).  After reading that section of the essay, I realized that I was acting just like her teacher from earlier in the essay.  Anzuldula does have a legitimate language, and she should not have to accommodate me.