The steam from his drink coated his glasses, and behind the mug I could see a toothless smile and a dark shiny grey beard. He gestured for my dad and I to come in. I stepped my way up into the overcrowded room full of mustard yellow couches. Not only did the place looked run down, and about to fall apart but, the place smelled like the worst mixture of rotten foods you could imagine. My dad and I’s facial expressions to each other said it all about this place. Once we had found our way, we filled out some application forms. During the process, I stood beside my dad, searching to find another girl taking the class. I looked forever only to find that there were no other girls…
A growing number of U.S. parents view bilingualism as a laudable family goal. The reasons for this trend include a desire to maintain ties to the parents' heritage language and culture, to provide children with academic and cognitive advantages, and to promote cross-cultural understanding…
Growing up in an immigrant household came with many difficulties. Learning English was very easy for me because I was always in daycare but coming home was hard because I could not communicate with my parents. Trying to communicate with my parents was very difficult and frustrating. Even though it was at a young age, it was difficult to live in a household who only spoke Spanish.…
When my sisters and I first came to the United States I had trouble understanding American English. Though we had been taught English in our school in the camp we were not prepared to learn in a completely English environment in a completely new culture. The transition was quite a challenge for us, not to mention starting well into the second half of the school year, but we pressed through and managed to get good grades.…
Bilingual education and economic inequality are just two of the many issues Texans deal with in today’s society. In “What is Bilingual Education,” Stephen Krashen defines bilingual education as “any use of two languages in school – by teachers or students or both – for a variety of social and pedagogical (educational) purposes” (1). Bilingual education confrontations in Texas are due to the overwhelming amount and diversity of immigrants in the past fifteen years. While good for population growth, bilingual issues are putting stress on our education system. It seems society will always be adjusting to incoming students with language barriers, yet instead of helping them in the best possible way, we continue to debate on how people feel. (Krashen 2)…
I grew up in the bilingual programs available in El Paso during the 1980’s. While Spanish was my first language, we came to live in the US when I was three. I was able to experience bilingual education and all it’s drawbacks since kindergarten. It was a very different experience for me to be able to learn subject matter in both languages, while Spanish to this day is still the sole language in my parents home.…
At that moment in my life my mindset was completely changed. I was a better student and person. It was really hard for us at the beginning as we had to learn a new language and to adapt to New York cold weather. I went to P.S. 189 which was a bilingual school and my first day there was exactly what I expected, it was a charm and welcoming school, and many other students were in the same situation as me. They were Haitians students that moved to United States to find a better life and opportunities after the…
Being different when it comes to language is hard for others to accept. Some bilingual students in a study reported that they felt isolated and discriminated against by fellow classmates who were perhaps native to the area they were in. Most immigrants find it very hard to fit in because they either speak a different language or speak in a different way. What happens to some of these students is similar to what happens to illiterate students. Not in every case, but in many they are teased, ignored, or put into different kinds of classed due to their inability to keep up with the students in the regular class. The issue is that the students eventually may give up or fall into a depression due to their social situation. There are ways to fix…
Growing up I spent most of my childhood in Vietnam living an ordinary life. My parents were not risk-takers until they decided to quit their career as educators and move to the United States. Knowing that life in America will be challenging for immigrants, we mentally prepared ourselves to be fearless and get through every obstacle that is in our way. No matter how prepare we were, being a newcomer was frightful. When I first step foot on the land of promise, there was a mixed emotion suddenly rushed through me as a signal telling me life here will not be easy. We faced will endless obstacles and the language barrier is the most, the biggest challenge for us. Personally, I think learning a new language is difficult and requires a lot of hard…
Hundreds of various thoughts and dreams crossed my mind, awakened frightened because of wind shears. Still feeling sleepy, the captain started talking about the weather in Houston and how much time left till landing. We would approach Houston in a short time and my first day in the United States was about to begin. My first day in the United States disturbed me too much although it ended well.…
One of the greater struggles in life is having to gather your belongings and move across the state into a different house. Packing your bags and moving 5,000 miles away to a different country is a lot harder. When I was only eight years old, I bid a farewell to my family and hoped on a plane from Sao Paulo to New York City. There, my step-father greeted my mother and I with a warm welcome and a long drive to Indiana. Although the transition from a city lover to a small-town girl was difficult, the obstacle that set me back the most was the language barrier. As I started school in the United States, I found myself to be very excluded from others. Not knowing the Pledge of Allegiance or understand anything in my classroom made me feel very homesick and embarrassed.…
After 20 hours, I took my first step in America. It was a beautiful day with nice weather. I couldn't wait to see my host and my friends that I have contact them couple days ago. I found a middle-age man with my name on his task. We introduced ourselves for a while and I knew that my host father is a kind person. I also met my friends and we went home together. I started to feel safety when I have these people around me, unexpectedly. A feeling that you need most in this foreign country. After dinner, I called my parents, took some rest and be ready for school on the next day. The school starts early at 07:50 a.m everyday and I have to wake up at 6 o'clock. It was always cold in the morning. I felt a little lonely when I was walking to the bus stop. However, I met a new Chinese friend in the school bus and he amazed me by everything he knew about the school. I reached the school at the right time. I met a guy in the office and he was helping me out on my schedule and everything I need for school. One of the very first difficulty that I have was school…
Born to local Chinese parents in Hong Kong, I immigrated to the United States when I was 19. I decided to leave my hometown despite having an admission offer from its best university because I wanted the experience of living a new life in an entirely different culture. The transition into American culture was both fascinating and painfully difficult. The language…
My decision to have American school life was the biggest transformation in my life. The background of my family was very normal except that my parents were more exposed to English than any other Korean parents. My mom is an English teacher, and my dad is an electrical engineer. They both can read, write and speak English. I was exposed to English since I was young, and I started to learn the alphabet when I was three. I've been to an English speaking kindergarten, and an English-based international elementary school. As soon as I went into middle school, I started to forget commonly used English because I was had lesser opportunity to speak English at the school. While I was applying for international high school in Korea, I realized how much…
October 24, 2004. It is the first day of school after moving to NY, walking in to class I realize I am no longer in a place I know. Everyone looks and speaks so differently, they speak a language I can't understand. Finally, a girl walk up to me, she is Taiwanese just like me. I was so happy when she told me she will be my translator for the year. Her name is Joanne, and of course she is my first friend. As the day goes by, I start to miss my old days when I was still in Taiwan, I realize the people in my class are not as friendly as I thought they would be. They pick on me because I didnt know any English, they call me names which I can't even understand.…