Cultural Identity

Se Habla Espanol by Tanya Barrientos is an essay where the author tends to recognize her struggle of being Latina who does not speak English. Barrientos was born in Guatemala, and her family moved to the USA when she was three years old. After moving to the USA, her parents made the decision that the children should stop speaking Spanish and speak, write, and read in English so as to help mold them into the American culture. Barrientos tried proving all the stereotypes wrong although she believed them herself. Barrientos refused her cultural identity as she wanted to fit in with her American friends. At 16, her father realized how Barrientos felt about her cultural identity, and he decided to send her to Mexico. The father knew that when Barrientos experienced her customs, it would help her change her view towards the Latin American culture. When learning Spanish, Barrientos started appreciating her culture, and she realized that she did love her culture. When Barrientos went back to the US, she came with the pride of her culture. Even after taking Spanish classes, she felt laughable around the native Spanish speakers. She struggled with the language and continued being frowned upon as a Spanish woman who cannot speak the language. With time, she learned to speak Spanish, and she proudly calls herself the Spanish Challenged and pura Latina. In the essay, Barrientos aimed at encouraging any other Latin Americans who feel the same way so that they can be able to find inner strength and also accept themselves the way that they are without feeling bad about themselves.  

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in nursing writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for non plagiarized essay for sale.