Challenges of Moving to a New Country

Challenges of Moving to a New Country
Going on vacation to other countries is fun and relaxing. You get to travel and get to know different places. On the other hand moving to a foreign country permanently can be challenging. Some of the challenges immigrants have to face when they move to a foreign country are: learning a new language, adapting to the culture, and finding new job opportunities. These are some of the challenges immigrants have to face when they migrate to another country. Learning a new language it’s difficult and frustrating as well as communicating with one another and understanding what other people are trying to say. In the story The Circuit, by Francisco Jimenez we saw how the protagonist, Panchito struggles on his first day of school. He is not able to talk and interact with other students because he didn’t know how to speak their language. As an immigrant, when I just came to this country one of the obstacles that I had to face was learning how to speak a new language. It was difficult for me because it made me feel out of place not being able to speak the language. Eventually it took me a lot of time and effort from my part to learn how to speak, but I overcame that barrier. Therefore learning a new language can be difficult at first but it is not impossible.

Another obstacle immigrants face when they move to a foreign country is the assimilation to a new culture. They are face with the challenge of new customs, traditions and a different way of life. Immigrants have to accept and adapt to this unknown conditions. This means making new relations, like meeting new people with different points of views and opinions. Also they have to learn how this new culture works to make it easier to understand and be part of it. For example when I came to the U.S.A., I attended to one of my new American friend’s birthday party. In the party I could barely hear the music, and everyone was sitting down eating, instead of dancing. On the other hand on my country when you are in a party, you can't even talk because of the loud music and everyone is always dancing. There are so many types of traditions and different cultures and accepting a new culture into your lifestyle can be difficult.

Last but not least struggling to find a new job can be challenging. Immigrants are limited to certain jobs because of their lack of language and documentation. They have to take low salary jobs that don’t require them to speak the language. Also they could be working up to a twelve hour shift for a minimum wage. Since they don’t have the proper working documents, and they are scared to speak up, therefore they stay under the poor working conditions, which in some cases can be very miserable. As the writer states in his story The Circuit we could see how Panchito describes how his body aches after a long journey of work, “I could hardly move” he says, describing how he felt. Another example from The Circuit is when his dad counts what they have earned “Quince”, fifteen dollars, which is nothing compared to the amount of hour, they had worked.
Moving to a foreign country can be difficult. It is important to learn the language to communicate. Adapting to a new culture and to be ready to face the challenges of trying to get a decent job. We have to remember that all changes are difficult, but it is necessary to go through them to assimilate. Things don’t come easy but I’m sure that if we challenge ourselves to do better and improve our weaknesses, we can definitely make it here or anywhere.