Clarissa Blanco, Blog #3: No Ispeaki Inglesh

      In my last post I spoke about how my family migrated to Lil' Dr after leaving Santo Domingo. Want to know one major setback they evaded? The language barrier!!!!! I must admit, I've noticed that it's so hard for immigrants to come to another country and easily fit in, ESPECIALLY the US, and mooooossttt especially on the mean streets of New Yorkkkk. BUT, they inevitably made         I've been speaking English most of my life. I'd have to say, Spanish was supposedly my first language (I hardly believe my mother when she tells me of my childhood) but now a days I probably use Spanish 20% of the time. It's harder now that I'm in a school where there's so few of my people, and I'm no longer required to take a language (Thank God for 4 years of tortuous high school Spanish). I love English. Almost everyone in America knows it. I can text people in it, write in it (and get auto-corrected when I'm wrong!), and converse in it. English is the basis of which all in America is formed. But shouldn't it blow our minds that it wasn't the "first" nationally known language? Here in America we are so proud to be Americans. We are so proud of our language and ability to know it, yet not even America was founded by "Americans". If it wasn't for Christopher Columbus on behalf of Spain, there would be no America or English! My family stresses the importance of, both, being and not being "American-ized". We are supposed to be proud Dominicans; never forgetful of our language, beautiful country, and the hardships of "la patria". Yet, we make it so that our people feel like we have to hide our identity in order to be successful in America. We have to embrace the "Anglo-Saxon" characteristic of America. Find where we fit in "whiteness". Love those positions in "whiteness". Wouldn't this leave a Spanish person lost in a sea of confusion? Who am I? What do I need to do to make it? Where do my loyalties lie?
      According to Anderson, the development of imagined national communities (such as the US/America) is made possible through an interaction between a capitalism, technology of production (in this case, print), and the fatality of human linguistic diversity (p 42-43). My favorite of those enablers is linguistic diversity. Without the many languages of America, print would be of small importance. Yet, without the advancement of print technology, the languages that were introduced, with the inclusion of different, popular, dialects, would have no permanence- nothing to make it as strong today. Print revolutionized language in America. The world "dissemination" is used often in Chapter 3, which only emphasizes the effect being able to read in the same language has on the ability of an imaginied community to grow in closeness. Reading, dreaming, speaking, thinking in the same language is important in the development of closeness and connectivity without any nation/ "imagined community". One would think that making a language exclusive to one particular community makes it smaller and less connected with the world, but print made it possible for people who spoke another of the diverse languages to still feel connected to those they with whom they couldn't normally relate.
    In what ways does print effect your life? For instance, think about books, articles, even plays that can be translated to the many vernaculars of America. For your entertainment, here's a scene of the play Washington Heights, a heartfelt play highlighting the struggles of Hispanics (from my hometown) after having migrated to this country! I'd suggest anyone who can to watch the play. It'll make you laugh, cry, think, and see how much in common you really do have with others who speak a different language; how much you a still incredibly a part of our "imagined community".