Domenica Distasio Anzadula Summary and Response In this essay Anzadula discuss the importance of languages throughout the world In the reading the discrimination that she underwent or that she saw other people undergo is talked about on many various levels First it is talked about when she discusses teachers telling her that if she wants to live in the United States then she must speak English if go back to Mexico where she belongs This kind of speech is very hurtful to people because it stops them from believing in their own culture and switches into them trying to fit in in other countries She talks about how trying to rid people of their native languages goes against the first amendment and it should not be something that we teach people to do She also talks about how in some places language is a male discourse She says that when speaking in we or plural forms you are to use the male version of the word Overall there are so many types of language and so many varieties of languages and none of them should be oppressed Who says that robbing people of language is less violent than war is the first thing that Anzadula responds to This quote is saying that robbing people of their language is not that bad and this is not something that Anzadula agrees with She responds to it by bringing in her own experiences of her being at school and people telling her to stop speaking Spanish and start speaking English Depriving someone of their language can be very detrimental to them because not only can it deprive them of their voice but it can also take people away from their culture and try and push them into something that they are not ready for and maybe not comfortable with Another thing that she responds to is when her mother said to her I want you to speak English This was crazy to me because her own mother was trying to rid her of her culture because she didn t want her daughter to be a misfit She wanted her daughter to be just like all the other kids She was required to take English classes to get rid of her accent because even just having a different accent from other people makes these people stand out and makes other people look at them differently Other people were attacking her form of communication and telling her is was not acceptable to speak her own language in a country that she was not native to Another response she makes is to the quote you are a traitor you re speaking the oppressor s language by speaking English you are ruining the Spanish language To this she says that she is adapting to the English culture and trying to speak in a way that is more acceptable to them She stated speaking Chicano Spanish which is a mix of slang and English words It is extremely hard to adapt to a place that wants to speak one way but then your native people feel betrayed because you are no longer speaking their way She had finally found a common ground which was a mix of both Spanish and English and still people were giving her trouble about it