Immersed in American culture since she was three, Barrientos is fighting to be accepted by the Latino Community. The problem is that she struggles with speaking Spanish; her native language. In Se Habla Español, Barrientos says, Spanish is the unofficial meter of how strong a Latino’s roots truly are (Barrientos, 2004). This summary will analyze the essay “Se Habla Español” by Tanya Maria Barrientos. I will discuss Barrientos’ purpose, her audience, the genre and her tone. As a child, Barrientos was proud of not knowing how to communicate in Spanish. She believed, “speaking Spanish translated into being poor.” (as cited in Barrientos, 2004). She hated being labeled a Mexican and just wanted to fit in. Barrientos wanted nothing to do with being Latino and enjoyed just being an American who happened to from another country.
As she grew older, America evolved and so did her views of being a Latina. Wanting to learn more about how Latinos lived as Spanish-Americans, she interviewed Latinos of various spectrums. She learned that if nothing else, Spanish is what ties them all together (Barrientos, 2004).Barrientos inability to speak Spanish made her feel like she couldn’t really call herself a Latina. She worried, when other Latinos see how much she struggles to speak the language, she’ll get that confused stare she witness so many times (Barrientos, 2004). Most people assume she already knows how to speak Spanish because after all, she is Guatemalan. Barrientos wanted share her experiences with readers that may have been taught only to speak English. She believes there has to be others like her that was raised in a similar household. She also wants other Latinos to be more understanding and excepting of people like her.
The article “Se Habla Español” was originally published in the collection “Border-Line Personalities”. Border-Line Personalities is a collection of essays written by Latinas. They share their stories and views on how they view the Spanish-American culture. The writer’s audience are mainly Latinas who are interested in the cultural shifts or lack thereof within in the Latino Community. “Se Habla Español” is as a personal narrative written by Tanya Barrientos. The author describes her real life experiences as a Guatemalan raised in America. I believe the author chose this form to tell her own story Throughout the essay, Barrientos seems a bit annoyed with how she is treated because of her “Spanish-challenged” predicament (as cited in Barrientos, 2004). She is humble enough to want to learn the language and seems to truly desire to be accepted. Barrientos shares in story that labels and social stigmas can affect us in harmful ways. I feel that just because she doesn’t speak Spanish doesn’t mean she’s not a pure Latina. As she stated, “Not all Poles speak Polish”, not all Latinos speak Spanish. (as cited in Barrientos, 2004) Nonetheless, she is at least trying to learn the language as well as her critics. Acceptance is what she really seeks but until people change their views, there will always be a wall.

Reference

Barrientos, T. (2004). Se habla Española. In D. Roen & G. R. Glau & B.M. Maid, The McGraw- Hill guide: Writing for college, writing for life (2nd ed.) (pp. 57-61). New York: McGraw-Hill