I found that the reading "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez was very relevant to what I experienced as a child. English was not my first language growing up. I was born into an immigrant family that mainly spoke Russian or Ukrainian. I was partially raised by my grandparents, who also only spoke those languages; however, when I was enrolled in an English-speaking private school, that quickly changed. I was only in preschool, and my English was very poor, so I had difficulty making friends and communicating my needs to the teachers. My teachers would not call on my name or help me through my questions. I was put into a position where I had to learn English and fast. Over time, I got better and better at speaking and writing in English, but I also lost a lot of my knowledge of the Russian language. I couldn't follow my mom's conversations or what my grandparents were saying to me. To this day, I have a hard time with their dialect, reading, and writing, but I am still learning. I lost a lot of time, stories, and memories with my family because of my inability to remember my original language. My sister was in a very similar boat to me, but she had recovered her knowledge of Russian much earlier than me. Rodriguez's story about sacrificing their heritage to better fit into American society is something I can understand. I truly hope that future students won't have to feel that pressure or forcefulness of having to fit in.
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