‘How I Learned English: 55 Accomplished Latinos Recall Lessons in Language and Life,’

“In 1999, in an attempt to gain recognition for Chicanos and other Latinos who had served in the U.S. armed forces, cultural critic Jorge Mariscal uncovered a lapse in administering the English-proficiency programs in Puerto Rico during the Vietnam War. Because the Army had not complied with its own rules for the testing of non-English-speaking inductees, many of those sent off to Vietnam could barely understand the commands they were given in the field.

To be Latino in this country is to constantly wrestle with language and the baggage of exploitation it carries. With regard to my own Mexican American history: We learned fast that even the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 did not guarantee our right to continue speaking Spanish within the territories ceded to the U.S.”

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