The first few years of my life I spoke little to no English, because at home my parents only spoke their native language, Burmese. Once I started preschool, my eyes were exposed to a whole different world from the secluded apartment I was living in from the time I came to America. My parents were traditional people and didn’t stray into the “American Lifestyle” until a few years down the road. My parents were strict and used harsh PUNISHMENTS on me at a young age. They knew the only way to survive was a good education, something that they were unable to acquire in their home country. America is known as the land of opportunities, education being their strongest. My parents were amazed that every child attended school and were not forced to
The focus of this essay is how immigrants have changed American. Joel L. Swerdlow, in “Changing American,” demonstrates why it takes 2 generations become successful: Language, Culture, and Economy. First of all, Language is one of the big problem that a second generation take when people come to another country (please) in "Changing American" by Joel L. Swedlowb tell us ' ' In 1990 some 32 million U.S. residents spoke a language other than English at home, and more than 7 million lived in households with no fluent English speaker over 14 years old. ' ' It is a problem for the second generation to be successful because their parent doesn 't help them in their home in the language.
At a young age, I recognized my private and public identity as discrete from the rest. English as my unknown language with unrecognizable sounds, and as I was to speak English, there was always an audience. I grew up in isolation not being able to express myself like any other American citizen. My cultural background haunted me in a negative way that I became anxious to dominate the English language. I went through enough discrimination to the point that I value the Anti-bilingual Act.
In a country like America where people all over the world come to obtain a better future for themselves and their children there is a large diversity with culture and languages. Most immigrant families comes to American speaking a different language and have to adapt to the American language, English. However some people don’t learn English or have difficulty learning it. Usually older people have difficulty learning English or just don’t have time, on the other hand children are sent to school where they are taught English. In this situation children now have to learn a new language and keep their native language.
“ When I came to American in 1978, I was stunned—and exhilarated – to find out that I could walk into any library and check out books that were uncensored and read them without fear of being harassed, thrown in jail or killed “ ( Mathabane, Pg. 29). This shows he lost his freedom in Africa and in America he found the peace and ability to read anything without it being censored or fear that he would go to jail. When I read that it made me appreciate the freedom I do have, being able to go to school, read what I want at any time. This is a great pleasure to have and now I appreciate it more. People do not realized that yes America has its issues but look at South Africa they are limited to what they can do and they live below the poverty line.
A challenge I have had to overcome throughout my life is fitting in. When I was four years old I was adopted from the country called Kazakhstan. I came to America at four years old and I lived with my new mom and dad. Throughout my life I have looked for what I am good at and what I will love to dedicate my life too. But due to not having my real parents there I never really knew who I was.
I am Nelly Ndayikengurukiye from Butare, Rwanda. I was born in Rwanda is a little country in sub-Saharan Africa. Butare, Rwanda is my “hometown.” My parents are Burundian; due to the devastation’s of 1994 we are refugees. I came to the United States when I was three years old.
Being a child of immigrant parents is not easy. You are constantly living in the fear that one day you’ll wake up and you parents won’t be there with you anymore. Specially now that we have a new president, things are getting more challenging. But don’t get me wrong, I live a happy life. I am proud to call myself a Latina.
I did and still do to some degree have a problem with my identity. When I first moved to America the way I looked and acted around American people was perceived as strange, unacceptable and I was ridiculed. Where one comes from is what make him different or unique from other people. How I acted around people made people think about whether they wanted to befriend me. In this world, there are people who are helpful with anything that are needed and there are people who ignored or shunned me.
Before I came to the United States of America, I had some different ideas about the culture and the people. Some of the main differences that I had was the opportunities, the people behavior and the language. This differences complete change when I saw the reality of this country. Before I came to this country I believe that in this country every thing was given to you, the school, work, and any need that you could need. USA is a bless country with easer to attend schools, but is not given to you, you have to put a lot of time and effort to just get in.
The first time I ever experienced freedom was when I came to America. Sometimes freedom ain 't really for all, you still have to follow all rules, and obey your parents. The word *Freedom* means to me is that you may have the right to do what you think is right, and you don’t really have to be one of those people out there that have no right. Even if you don’t have any right you can always dream, and experienced from the people around you, and your friends. When people always tell me what’s right, or wrong, that annoys me.
Being born and raised in a culture and then uprooting your life to pursue opportunities in a different culture can be hard in three ways. First, speaking a foreign language and then coming to America where majority of the people speak English can be difficult to adapt to. When a person has grown accustomed to speaking their native language, it can be problematic to have to pick up an entire new language. Possibilities can be limited because of the restrictions on one’s ability to communicate with other. Second, if a teenager comes to America from a foreign country they will have to take on responsibilities that they normally would not.
Richard Rodriguez and Gloria Anzaldúa are two authors who both immigrated to America in the 1950s and received first hand experience of the assimilation process into American society. During this time, Rodriguez and Anzaldúa had struggled adjusting to the school system. Since understanding English was difficult, it made adjusting to the American school system increasingly difficult for Rodriguez. Whereas Anzaldúa, on the other hand, had trouble adjusting to America’s school system due to the fact that she didn’t wish to stop speaking Spanish even though she could speak English. Both Rodriguez and Anzaldúa had points in their growing educational lives where they had to remain silent since the people around them weren’t interested in hearing them speaking any other language than English.
As a young Congolese child moving to America at the age of one without the richest or most qualified parents, I believe I have come out to be a strong and determined person considering my background and the things my family had to, and still are, endure. All my attributes I have acquired are thanks to how and where I was raised. My family is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, I was born in the capital, Kinshasa and moved to America at the age of one. Even though I was too young to have any type of memory of what Congo was like, I still consider myself Congolese, which I’m very proud of.
My native language is Spanish, yet I have always craved the English language. This unexplained desire has shaped my most significant life decisions, and I believe was triggered as a result of being born in a foreign country. I was born in Hong Kong, China, due to my father’s job. During my pre-school years in China I attended an English/Chinese dual-language school which I believe was where I first dipped my toes into this small puddle containing the English language. It was later in life that I discovered there was an ocean of knowledge available and I wanted nothing more than to let myself sink into it.
Our society is battling with disintegration, and disintegration is winning. Primarily, other countries are advanced/advancing in areas like education. Countries like Finland, Australia, Iceland, and Singapore have the highest education, while America is ranked average. Schools subjects in those countries would probably be considered much harder for students living in the United States. As for me, I grew up going to school in West Africa, but after coming