Keeping Up With Culture In The Only Real Day, By Frank Chin

Keeping Up With Culture in America

When immigrants arrive in America for a better future with more opportunities, they struggle with maintaining their culture. The definition of culture is describes as “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.” While the immigrant generation is resistant to change, their children are adapting to the new American values, which causes disagreements within the family. In their stories, authors Monfong Leung and Frank Chin writes about different aspect of the Chinese culture that immigrant families face. In his stories, Monfong Leung writes about internal or spiritual connection within family generations. Considering that the author has never been to China, his knowledge is general
Freddy has to accompany Yuen to City Hall for official business. Since Yuen does not comprehend the English language, Freddy has to act as the translator. Upon entering the building, Freddy does not where to go and Yuen said, “Do you see any Chinese around? Ask one, he’ll help us.” While many Chinese think this is true – that Chinese are willing to help other Chinese because they are the same kind, it is really the other way around. From my own experiences of being the translator, a lot of times when I ask other Chinese for help, they will replied with “I don’t know” as if they are in a hurry to get off work. However when I ask a Caucasian, they are very helpful. If you still do not understand it, they will write it down for you or take you to the right office. When the both of them are in the office, Freddy has the difficult task of translating to Yuen in broken Chinese. In today’s society, many American born Chinese cannot speak fluently in their own language and usually has trouble communicating with the older generation - if they do not understand