Author: Cindy (Page 8 of 10)

As the sun shined brightly through the window, a group of classmates and I sat together in a room with our chairs forming the shape of a circle, each of us facing one another in close proximity. The peer leader of our group pulled out a piece of paper and started reading off questions relating to our education and asked how we felt being in our current place in life. I grimaced and noticed the eye rolls and sighs that went around the room as education has always been a sensitive topic. One classmate decided to speak first, “I like to learn.” Right at that moment, a few people who had their head down looked up at my classmate with a look of confusion questioning her words since it was so unexpected. She proceeded to say that although she does not take school seriously, she realizes the importance of education, but sitting around and confining to standards was not for her. She was just another example of how the American education system failed her, and that was something everyone in the room related to. More classmates began to speak about how they did not want to be defined by a number, judged by whether they pass or fail a certain class. No one in the group liked being labelled as the troublesome kid, and one too many classmates mentioned that an adult figure in their life has told them that they would never achieve anything in life. It is times like this where we all sit together and become reminded that everyone has their own difficulties in life, and those difficulties may prevent one from continuing on with their education properly. Failing a class does not make one unintelligent. There are always other circumstances that should be looked at. But for many, the burden of being just a number is far too great and ends up deteriorating one’s mind. The education system is not perfect and does not cater to everyone. Everyone has different learning styles, while I could be a visual learner, my classmate might be an auditory learner or kinesthetic learner, so the way we both comprehend information would be drastically different. And although I already knew all this, speaking about it out loud and hearing my classmates’ thoughts and experiences reminded me that education is for everyone. Everyone becomes curious and strives to gain knowledge in some way but being judged for your capabilities to sit through five days a week, eight or more hours each day in a room where you might not even learn properly is problematic.

“‘Cause I speak three tongues One for each: Home, school and friends.” – Jamila Lyiscott “3 Ways to Speak English”

“Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all – all the Englishes I grew up with.” – Amy Tan “Mother Tongue”

Growing up in New York, it has always been apparent that various “Englishes” existed. English lingo, slang, and AAVE paired with the infamous NY accent that is spoken with friends, the English used when speaking with family and the so-called proper articulated English that may also “sound foolish to the British.” When speaking to a certain person or group, your English diction varies. Different aspects of our life affect the way we may choose to articulate our words. I find that Amy Tan’s and Jamila Lyiscott’s work about the English language very relatable. While growing up, there has been many times where I have noticed my mother’s broken English, which I understood since English is not her first language. Sometimes I would be given a task to speak to someone on the phone to properly convey my mom’s words, just like Amy Tan needed to. Realizing that there are limitations to my mother’s English does not make her a bad speaker, while she can speak well and get her point across, it is not as fluent as mines. And considering the fact that most POC are bilingual or multilingual, like my mother, that is already something I find noteworthy.

“Sometimes I fight back two tongues,

While I use the other one in the classroom

And when I mistakenly mix them up

I feel crazy like… I’m cooking in the bathroom…”

“These words are spoken by someone who is simply fed up with the Eurocentric ideals of this season.”

“I’m so tired of the negative images that are driving my people mad.”

Lyiscott brings up the negative perceptions that people have regarding various “Englishes.” It is a problem that exist and needs to be addressed. Though speaking the English language with perfect grammar, enunciation and diction may be most ideal to some, I hope the negative view of various “Englishes” cease, especially as Lyiscott states, “I’m so sick of this nonsensical racial disparity.” After all, seeing injustice and choosing to ignore blatant issues makes one complicit. “The English language is a multifaceted oration, subject to indefinite transformation.” The words used are still written with letters of the English alphabet, which makes them similar, yet so different from each other. Each different language spoken has their own charm and appeal which should not be used to judge the speakers.