The essay I chose for this assignment was “Se Habla Espanol” By Tanya Barrientos. While reading some of the passages from the essay, you learn a lot about the author and her journey of being a Latina woman living in America. You can tell that she has a hard time accepting that she is an English speaking, Latina woman. Once Tanya moved to America, at age three, she lost the ability to speak any Spanish. Even while talking with her parents they spoke in English. She tried asking her parents to speak to her in Spanish, but they raised her to believe that if she spoke English, she would “make it” in America. Her parents believed that if she could speak English without any sign of an accent, she would be seen as a true American, despite her obvious ethnicity. From this, she began to look at her heritage in a negative way. From pure observation she related speaking Spanish, with being poor. Between her friends and her family, she felt like she was fighting alone in the strive to be a part of her hidden culture. When she was sixteen, she realized she hated Mexico for the wrong reasons. Her father wanted to show her that she could be proud of where she comes from, as well as fitting in in America. She then discovered that she loved her culture. By the time Tanya was in college, the way people thought was different. She had noticed a big change in how the nation viewed ethnic identity. As she states in the essay, “Not all Poles speak Polish. Not all Italians speak Italian. And as this nation grows more and more Hispanic, not all Latinos will share one language.” Even though this made it harder for Tanya to find her place, it helped her become more determined to learn Spanish. She began by taking Spanish lessons and became frustrated that people automatically assumed that since she is Spanish, she should know how to speak the language. I believe Tanya