Jacquelyn Blain

Englishes

I personally agree with what Carillo is saying because she talks about how we were all taught to read and analyze a text a certain way. Also to understand it that way as-well. I also really like how she mentioned we cant have our own interpretation of the text and our own responses. I feel like if we are the ones reading it we should have a say on how we understand it. I feel like i always had that feeling in school. I was always scared to have a different interpretation then my teacher because i always thought that if i don’t have the same interpretation as her then she will think i am not understanding it and i will be criticized. I feel like we would never have a say in a piece of righting and that when we read something she would explain the meaning and that was the correct interpretation of it, And that anything else was wrong. If i am being honest it made me feel kinda stupid at the time because i had my own interpretation of something and then my teacher would have a different one and i would assume i am wrong. In my personal opinion it is easier to know something then it is to understand something. It also take longer to understand something then to know something. This is important in todays world because knowledge can only get you so far. Because at one some point you need to understand what you are doing to go further in life.

My experiences with the different Englishes is i live in a household with parents who came this country in their 20s without knowing any english. Meaning that i had to translate for them my entire life, I still do to this day. When Tan said in her article Mother tongue and i quote”And my mother was standing in the back whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me check, already two weeks late. So mad he lie to me, losing me money. And then I said in perfect English, “Yes, I’m getting rather concerned. You had agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived.” I literally laughed when i read this because i go through this so often with my parents its actually funny to me. My parents would say to me one thing and i would have to change it to something more understandable so i don’t confuse the person i am talking to.

1 Comment

  1. Jacquelyn Blain

    Funny how you related to the Tan piece! And I absolutely hear your frustration about not being allowed to have your own feelings and opinions — it does make someone feel like they’re “wrong” when in fact they’re just different! Makes me crazy. Nice comments.

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