Kimberly Samuel 8:30-9:45 “Wild Tongue”

In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” Anzaldua discusses how shes being mistreated for speaking

Spanish. Throughout the story Anzaldua reveals that Spanish is a language used to communicate with

others. She teaches us about “Chicano Spanish”, the Spanish culture and the mistreatment of her

language and how it was used to determine what people portrayed her to be.

“For a people who are neither Spanish nor live in a country in which Spanish is the first language; for

a people who live in a country in which English is the reigning tongue but who are not Anglo; for a

people who cannot entirely identify with either standard Spanish nor standard English, what recourse is

left to them but to create their own language?” This quote shows how her life was difficult and how she

wasn't excepted by Spanish friends because she's Chicano Spanish. In order to survive in school in

America she hides her Spanish origins but was able to rebel against that and accept her real self.

People kept attacking her native tongue because it wasn't similar to any other Spanish. It diminished

her self esteem and she began to hide her Spanish origins. Language represents who we are, and how

exactly why we exist. The problem she stated is that the language she spoke was Chicano Spanish, not

true Spanish. She was living in an English speaking environment, she wasn't living in a