Imagine having to start your life all over again. Friendships and unbreakable bonds are now shattered. Everything that I thought I would never lose was gone. Being brought to the United States, a country where nothing is the same, people have all different types of mindsets and languages could be devastating to a 11 year old girl. I had sleepless nights crying, thinking, missing everything that I once had. I just didn't know how to feel. I felt happiness for a better life coming ahead of me, but sadness for all the memories and life I left behind. The toughest obstacle that I had to overcome was the language barrier. Antecedently to immigrating I never had the challenge to speak another language other than Spanish. Having people constantly making fun of me it wasn't …show more content…
When you hear everyone invariably laughing, giggling at every single thing that you do or say is an unbearable feeling. There's a point when you feel exasperated and suffocated of the whole day to day experience. The negative comments each person made shaped me to be stronger and wanting to be the best that I could at everything, not only the language but also academically. The summer after my first year of school ended as a bilingual student I was determined to learn idiom and that's exactly what happened. Once I set my mind to accomplish a goal I do it, no questions asked. Day after day I watched television in English read and wrote. Starting as a middle school student I already knew a lot more, I could have a full on conversation with classmates and teachers. Still, when communicating with other people I felt intimidated, petrified that they would deride, or take me as a joke, just because of the fact that I did have an accent and I did stutter. With everyone around
There are many challenges that one must face as we go through life. I have faced a few myself, however, none proved more challenging than moving from my country; Jamaica, to the United States and subsequently moving to the state of Wisconsin. Deciding to leave behind family and friends is the hardest decision to make, however, there are a few things that I was not prepared for that made the transition more challenging than expected. Moving away from all that is familiar culturally, socially and economically can be even more of a daunting task than imagined. There are things that are taught to us by our parents and others that are more dictated by our environment than anything else, so when I immigrated to the United States I had three major challenges to overcome.
Although, I have been a good student at school, I always have struggles doing my homework like any other student. Sometimes, it is difficult to me to understand my assignments; however, I always try to obtain a knowledge from my courses. In this case English 111, like any other course left a mark on my academic and personal life.
...d to United States, I was grateful that I made the decision to move. When my family visited, I was able to cherish every moment with them because I knew how difficult life without them. I was grateful to have my family. Their endless support and advice, helped me to improved myself. Lived independently in United states, I grew as a better person, I learned how to planned a better time management and to be responsible on my priority.
New country means new language, new culture, new people and different lifestyle. I never thought of being somewhere where you don’t know the language and people. For my parent and me the difficult part was learning new language. Since, I and my sister were going to school, so we knew Basic English. But for my parents adopting new language after so many years was really tough. Since, my dad had his own business, he also had to take care that before we move to us.
Moving far away from family and friends can be tough on a child at a young age. It has its pros and cons. One learns how to deal with moving away from the people they love and also learn how to deal with adjusting to new ways of life. Everything seems so different and at a young age one feels like they have just left the whole world behind them. That was an experience that changed my life as a person. It taught me how to deal with change and how to adjust. It developed me from a young boy into a mature young man.
As an elementary student, I had a slight accent as I spoke, and I would get bullied for not being able to talk as fluently as the other kids. The way the other students would act
“You are in America, speak English.” As a young child hearing these words, it did not only confuse me but it also made me question my belonging in a foreign country. As a child I struggled with my self-image; Not being Hispanic enough because of my physical appearance and not being welcomed enough in the community I have tried so hard to integrate myself with. Being an immigrant with immigrant parents forces you to view life differently. It drives you to work harder or to change the status quo for the preconceived notion someone else created on a mass of people. Coming to America filled me with anxiety, excitement, and even an unexpected wave of fear.
What is culture? Culture is the idea of what is wrong or right, the concept of what is acceptable within our society. Culture serves us as a guide, taking us to the "right way" and helping us to make sense of things that surrounds us. There are many different cultures around the world. A lot of them are similar in specific ways and others are just completely different, this difference explains why we think that people from different backgrounds are "weird".
I felt like I was in this big messy bowl of guacamole. When you are in this big mix-up you are looked upon like a “gringo” in Mexico and like a “beaner” in America. This only makes it more difficult. The older I grew the harder it became. I would get closer to the Mexican culture as I was also getting closer to the
Life changes in matter of seconds. Imagine waking up to news of moving to a different country as an innocent young child, leaving friends and family behind and moving to a country thousands of miles away. I can still remember how terrified I was of leaving my homeland and coming to a new, different environment. Going to a place where I had no friends or family was the hardest thing ever. My friends and family members were very upset and they were crying because I was leaving. I was trying to be strong and hold back my tears. I had no choice of staying or leaving because I was only 11 years old and I had to leave with my parents. They had to leave the country because they owned a clothing store and it was no longer performing like it used to. They wanted to leave Egypt and live the American dream. My life went through a complete change because I moved to a new country, had to adapt to a new culture, learn a new language.
Moving to a different country at a young age can be a challenge, especially when most of my friends and family are not coming with me. I moved to the United States when I was eight years old. When I landed in Michigan in 2006, everything was new to me, the culture, the language, and the people. Coming to America was cultural shock to my system.
Moving to another country and starting a new chapter of life are two of the most difficult things in life. Nobody wants to change, including me. In my country, Vietnam, people usually says that "if you have a chance to live in the United States, your future will be so bright because living in America is living on a field that is full of gold." When I was young and still as a child, my parent told me that we will be leaving Vietnam and moving to the United States in the future. When I heard that, I was so happy. Four years ago, my family and I moved to the United States with the hope of having a better future and the happiness of family reunion with my grandparent. On the way to United State, we always thought, expected, and hoped that everything will be okay and fine. After few months we have been living in the new country, problems started to happen. My parents could not communicate and understand people who spoken English because they had no chance to study English back in Vietnam. In Vietnam, they only used motorcycle. When they came here, they had to learn how to drive cars. It was really hard for my parents to find jobs since they could not speak and understand English, could not drive either. Everything was new and we had to learn and start everything from the beginning. It was really hard for my parent, including me.
When I was a child my dad, and my grandparents taught me how to speak Spanish before I could learn how to speak English. As I continued to learn more and more words, Spanish became my first language, I spoke it fluently, and English came second. When I was ready to start Pre-K, my dad taught me to write in English other than in Spanish. It was hard to learn how to write my letters without knowing them in English and only in Spanish. I would confuse my E’s
There is always going to be obstacles that you have to overcome but once you overcome them a lot of doors open for you. Learning English for me was one of those obstacles I had to overcome but once I learned English I was able to help out my parents with translating and speaking it. Also making them realize that they also had to learn English because I wasn’t always going to be around to help them out. Yes I got frustrated a lot translating for my parents but looking back at it now I wouldn’t change it because it’s made me who I am
In my first year of preschool (I’d just turned three), I remember reading BOB books and writing complete sentences by myself while my classmates would be counting beads or trying to see if a ball of foil or a rectangle of foil would float better in a tub of water. I really enjoyed all the other activities, but every time I’d take an activity box out of its cubby, a teacher would gently guide me back to my little table, back to my books and pencils. Looking back now, I realize that she had noticed potential in me and had been gently pushing me to embrace my abilities. I remember going with my mother to Barnes & Noble in the Pittsburgh snow to read, though I was really only doing so for the cheese pretzel she’d inevitably buy me from the cafe