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essay on bilingual education
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Being born in the Philippines and being raised between my birth country and Japan, I was taught completely different languages than that I speak today. From the beginning of my life, I was embedded with the languages of Japanese, Tagalog, and some Chinese. Not only did I learnt and understood these languages, I was also influenced with the Asian lifestyle. I had to show respect to my elders, always be with my family, and incorporated religion and cultural traditions into my everyday life. Then, with a sudden whisk, I was brought to America at the age of five years old with my mother. My mother wanted to live that "American dream" that she has heard. So with her "imperfect English" and me with no knowledge of English, we first moved to Oregon. There I attended my first English school. I was shocked with the culture differences that they practiced in America. I realized that the families are broken apart, the Asian Americans appear to have never practiced their cultural traditions and language, and some children do not pay their respects to their elders. I see how American culture collides with what I was taught; I progressively adapted this culture change. I gradually adjusted to my environment in Oregon, and then my mother decided to move to California, then to Hawaii. Moving to this new country and jumping around the different states, learning a new language and culture was imperative. Taking in English and the American ways slowly over took me; thus caused me to lose myself I
shin itagaki Page 1 4/24/2006
had not realized it in the beginning, but by being entranced with the television shows, the food, and the American lifestyle, these factors slowly made me forget "me," the self that I identified with when I was younger. Learning English took over me; the fact that I was held back gave more of a reason for my mom to speak to me in English, instead of my native languages.
As each day went by, I easily forgot who I was. The emptiness that dwindled inside grew bigger and I could not stop it. I looked at the people who have grown up in America, a place that gives people freedom and independence, and I am green with jealousy. I was jealous at the fact that they are able to communicate easily with the person next to them.
The word “literacy” alone has a huge impact to my unperfect or as you can say informal English. Many would criticize and laughed at native speakers but did anyone every thought of the struggles of balancing two different languages with various different style within the language. As Amy Tan. the author of Mother Tongue, had mentioned, “that Asian students, as a whole, always do significantly better on math achievement tests than in English. And this makes me think that there are other Asian- American students whose English spoken in the home might also be described a ‘broken’...” Tan is describing the struggles that Asian- American students faced in America (4). In addition to Tan’s statement, I can relate back to my daily life; learning the formal English in school, speaking Vietnamese at home, and listening to the limited English
An individual’s background is where one comes from and how he or she is raised. Tan is Chinese American. She has a traditional Chinese mother who speaks “broken” English. Tan states that, “It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than ‘broken’, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed[. . .]” (Tan 43). Tan is an American school girl. As Tan listens to her mother use that type of dialect, it causes her perception of her mother to be distraught. Tan believed it “[. . .] reflected the quality of what [her mother] had to say” (Tan 43). For instance, department store clerks, bank employees and restaurant workers will ignore her mother when they can not understand her. Tan is a writer who loves the use of language. She says, “Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all-all the Englishes I grew up with” (Tan 41). She is able to adapt her dialect to her audience. With her mother, she uses “broken” English; with her colleagues, she uses correct English grammar.
Coming to America is one of the greatest milestones that deeply impacted my identity. Coming to an unknown land, I have experienced the struggle of adapting to the American culture and gaining access to its opportunities due to my language barrier. As a result, I did not have the choice but to assimilate myself into the American culture by learning it’s language and adjusting to its social norms.
I walked around unsteadily all day like a lost baby, far away from its pack. Surrounded by unfamiliar territory and uncomfortable weather, I tried to search for any signs of similarities with my previous country. I roamed around from place to place and moved along with the day, wanting to just get away and go back home. This was my first day in the United States of America.
My mother would occasionally take me to work with her at the nail salon while sitting at her station I would notice how rudely customers would treat her due to her lack of English. At that point, I realized that my mother did not sacrifice everything to be ridiculed all because she could not speak English. A sense of determination washed over me. With the aid of my ESL class, in addition, to listening to other people’s discourse of the language, I gradually became fluent in the glorious English language. While learning English, it sent me on an unforgettable journey each step I took felt like I was paving my own pathway to success. After years of feeling un-American, I was committed to teaching and changing myself with knowledge, soon enough, learning the English language allowed me to adapt to my environment. Growing up as an immigrant kid, I lusted for eloquence and fluency after discovering the significance and strength of communication.
The first and second year after moving from China to the United States, I was afraid to talk to strangers because my English was not very well. I had to depend on my husband for dealing with my personal business, such as making a doctor’s appointment, calling to the bank, or questioning to DMV officers. Douglass says, “being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (62). For myself, being a dependent and helpless adult is a shame. Moreover, I lacked of extra money to go to school to improve my English. Thus, I stayed home all the time to avoid embarrassment of talking to strangers. After a while, I realized that improving English speaking skills are the essential to gain my self-confidence. So, I spent time to read various articles on the internet and watched English dialogues’ videos on YouTube. As a non-English speaking immigrant living in the U.S., I inevitably encountered a series of difficulties to integrate myself into a new
Since I still wanted to make friends, I desperately continued to try to break down the barrier between my peers and I and I slowly began to succeed. As I began making more and more friends, my experience in the U.S. started to become a happier one. Although there were still many things about American culture that I did not understand, I chose to face my fears head on which lead to a more content life. I realized that no matter where you are from, what obstacles you had to face, or what social class you belong to, coming to America gives you an opportunity to build a new and better life for you and your family. The journey to learn this lesson was not an easy one, but I’m glad I learned it.
Language can be a difficult task to foreigners who have already achieved a first language. In “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, “Mute in an English-only World” by Chang-Rae Lee, and “Leave your Name at the Border” by Manuel Munoz, the authors explain how people are judged by their “broken language”, and their lack of understanding the English language. Tan, Lee, and Munoz admits that by not being fluent in English, it was hard to adjust to the new world that they lived in. The authors explained that throughout their life-time, English was very important to them; they also felt embarrassed in front of others who could not understand what they were saying. By having an accent in America can be a burden on individuals whether it is due to a feeling of being unwelcomed or alienated by others.
Throughout Richards early childhood development he quickly understood that in order to succeed in America he would have to learn to confidently speak in English. Richard is Hispanic American and although he was born in America, Spanish was the only language that he was exposed to as a young child. He grew up in a home where Spanish flowed freely, but he soon realized outside of his home the language that he primarily knew was foreign. His parents spoke fluent Spanish along with all of his relatives. The brief encounters he experienced of his parents speaking English were only in public places and the proficiency was very poor. Rodriguez’s home was as a safety net for him and his Spanish speaking family with they are his only real connections to the outside world. It wasn’t until Richards encounter with his teachers that he and his family was heavily impressed on the importance of developing a public language. After the encouragement of the visit home from a teacher as a family
My dad always says that "America is the land of opportunities" and I will have a "better future in America" compare to a third world country where I grew up. America is definitely different than the Philippines, clean environment, organized roads, . Language has been one of my biggest barrier to communicate. At first, I was convinced that I know how to speak English because I learned it in school back in the Philippines. I always read books written in English and watch English movies that I am pretty sure that I can comprehend the basic English
The statement, “Asian Americans should just speak English” signifies a disregard for Asian culture with regards to language, while promoting assimilation into American culture, or of the English language. It implies that Asian Americans should hide the language that represents their culture, history, and genes because they have immigrated to a predominately English speaking country, the United States of America. It suggests that Asian Americans should adopt more of an American culture and “blend” into the current society. Asian Americans should not be expected to assimilate into American culture by losing touch with their native language. In the book, Asian Americans: Personality Patterns, Identity, and Mental Health by Laura Uba, an example
As we may all have once experienced, acculturation is one of the most common part of our lives, either by music, language or habits. In many occasions is more noticeable, but they are still a part of our entire lives. Through my own experiences and some of my classmates we were able to identified this topic in our own lives. I being born in USA but raised in Mexico until I was 16 years old, made my acculturation really clear when I came to this country without any previous knowledge of this language or society. Everything was completely different, but I was able to adapt to a new culture in a small period of time, learning a new language and successfully ending High School. Now that I came to college, I feel that I am going to a new acculturation process, not as harsh or obvious. But leaving and having many Asian friends have been acculturated me to their Asian culture little by little. Everything starts when you put in practice small customs as taking your shoes at the door, eating rice with anything and eating specially with chopsticks. I have been presented to this, and in my opinion have become acculturated to this culture. However, not everyone stories are the same. Lizandro Laverman experienced acculturation more indirectly by his parents experiences. His parents, basically, came to the United States to have a better lifestyle. He himself personally considers himself as an American. Although he is actually 75% Guatemalan and 25% German he considers himself to be 100% American. He also speak fluent in both languages, so the English and the Spanish, but speaks English more than anything. He also feels embraced when as Guatemalan dishes. In general, his parents are only used to a lifestyle that comes from Guatemala as train...
Amy Tan, the author of The Joy Luck Club, talks about in the article, Mother Tongue, how her mother’s broken English would affect her daily life, how people treat her because of it, and how she felt about her mother’s language. She also talks about when she was in school she was pushed towards science and maths because of her cultural background, as an Asian American student; when she really wanted to write English and become an English major. In the beginning paragraph of the article Tan explains how she has to depict the different Englishes she uses through her daily life in writing and how she is able to deal with it.
Coming to America, by far was not what I expected. However, after living here for four years, I have learned to adjust to the surroundings. I was not mentally prepared for the culture change that I was exposed to in the beginning but as days turned into months and eventually into years, I realized that I grew accustomed to the culture and eventually became a part of it. I have gotten accustomed to calculating distance by miles and not kilometers, temperatures by Fahrenheit not Celsius, weight by pounds not kilograms. I have also been influenced to see beauty in different content unlike home where thick women are considered beautiful, healthy and happily married unlike here where everyone is trying to lose weight to enhance their beauty and health. However, not even a decade in America can make me forget the extremes I experienced when I first arrived.
I grew up in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood, where I was one of the twelve Asian students in my grade of three hundred and fifty and the only Chinese student in my class. I struggled to understand what my classmates, friends, and teachers talked about because they spoke primarily Spanish outside of the classroom, and I could barely count to ten. Fitting in was hard not only because of the language barrier but also the racial and cultural differences. Making friends with people who have little or nothing in common is difficult, so I attempted to copy whatever my classmates would do. I ate what they ate, watched what they watched, and played whatever sports they played. I took Spanish lessons with the family who lived below me, and in exchange I taught them a bit of Mandarin. By the second grade, I had eased into the community around me despite only having two close friends. They helped me to embrace my Chinese side while being assimilated. I could stop being someone I wasn’t, and I was not scared to be myself with them because they were fascinated by my unique characteristic from having Chinese heritage. I enjoyed living in Corona, since everything I needed was so close, and this i...