The beauty of bilingualism

        Espaillat's use of parenthesis to translate several words into Spanish delivers a sense of acceptance towards its vast audience. As we've concluded last time, incorporating more than one language in a literal/musical piece allows the author to identify themselves, as well as unify both/several different cultures together. Although Espaillat and Alvarez's techniques are both based on the same concept, their approaches were a bit different: Alvarez was portraying her life story through translated words and meanings, all in different kinds of Spanish. She embodied her entire text with personal struggles towards growing up in a dual cultural society. Espaillat's doesn't have this need to constantly switch languages in order to prove her point.
        
As it's been proven over and over again, growing up with two different languages will inevitably result in a mixture of both cultures. Espaillat's   father may have been able to keep both languages separate, but contrary to her he didn't grow up with English. I personally grew up with both English and French, attending an all time  french-speaking school while having to speak English with my father back home. And let me tell ya, it's absolutely impossible to not manifest both languages together, especially as a child. Because you identify yourself with this sort of, personally unified language, you become one with both cultures. The fun part about it all is inventing your own language by mixing both in a single sentence. The Frenglish language was established between me and my older brother by the time I was nine.

        In her poem, the author had mentioned that a child learns by pointing at things and saying them out loud. Now this wouldn't be varied when it concerns a monolingual child, but a bilingual individual will say that word out loud  without a second thought on whichever language comes out first.The irony is expressed in the title itself, "Bilingual Sestina", as the author describes the importance of childhood memory by proving that the separation of both languages is nearly impossible. When she refers to English as Inglais, she's showing the reader that although her mind might have learned to say English, her Spanish heart naturally refers to it as Inglais. 

        She represents a figurative meaning when she refers to someone's tongue, when she tells the reader about how she's had to speak different languages while strictly keeping them apart. Instead of naturally unifying them both, she was obligated to keep them separate, thereby being forced to develop two different tongues. She represents a literal meaning of the phrase "Searching for my tongue" when she was gradually forgetting how to speak her first language Guajarti, afraid that by neglecting her mother tongue it would eventually "rot" away. The strong imagery is presented through her life stories and personal experiences. 

        I'm not exactly sure why the author chose to discuss the nature of bilingualism through a poem, rather than an article, memoir or even a journal. Perhaps because she wanted to reflect her life story and struggles with identity through a stronger technique? Poems are known for their dramatic effects and strong literal meanings, after all.