As I reflect on the past, a challenge that conquered a majority of my life was being a first-generation Vietnamese-American. Although I was born in America, I was raised with Vietnamese roots. This meant that I spoke fluent Vietnamese as a child and it was the only language I fully understood. It became a challenge as soon as I entered kindergarten. That was when I was introduced to the American culture. The mixture of English and Vietnamese made me forget how to speak Vietnamese with fluency. At a young age, I noted the difference between the two languages. I can recall a time where my teacher had asked what we ate for breakfast. I replied with "phở" and received odd stares from my peers because everyone else had said "cereal". In Vietnam, our breakfast consist of edible food that aided our survival. Therefore, there are no specific meals that does not fall under the category of breakfast. Not many people understood that. …show more content…
Report card pick-up functioned as judgment day for me. English was a foreign language to me. In sociology, there exists a concept called concerted cultivation. Children who are raised in a concertedly cultivated manner are said to be more socially developed. Parents really put in an immense effort by forming conversations and placing them in extracurricular activities. My parents didn 't have time to concertedly cultivate me. They worked long hours to ensure that they were able to pay our bills and put food on the table for their children. Even when they had the time to assist me with my homework, it was often difficult because English was something foreign to them as it was to me. There are even times, as an adult, where I feel insecure about speaking