The English language, aliens, and tolerance.

I really enjoyed reading the first article, "Passport Photos". It read more like a story than an actualy essay, and perhaps this is one of the reasons I was so interested in it. Also, I thought it brought a few points to my attention, such as the word "alien" (E.T vs. Migreant Workers), the CAUTION sign in English that read as PROHIBITED in Spanish, and the quote from that Falling Down movie, where the character named Foster is unaware that " not only is it not his country alone, it is also not his language anymore". I also thought a lot about the striking black and white photographs. I felt sad looking at the one of the homeless people sleeping outside of the First House on Christmas Eve, perhaps because I am used to spending the winter holidays in a warm house with my family.

For some reason or another, I didn't enjoy the second article, "How To Tame A Wild Tounge", as much as the first, but I didn't hate it. The quote that stuck out most in my mind was at the very beginning- "Who is to say that robbing a people of its language is less violent than war?" I thought this was important because it has to deal with human rights: the right to their own language and culture. The next paragraph in the article, when the narrator was reprimanded for trying to show a teacher the pronounciation of his name, shows the sad truth of some Americans- "If you want to be American, speak 'American'." I think that kind of viewpoint is just terrible; no one should have to completley forget who they are or their culture when they are living in a different place.