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Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2013Professor Els de Graauw
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When Your Children Speak English Better Than You Do
[I spoke] very little English and then little by little, listening to the TV or to the, or to the radio or listening other people speak or taking a book and reading a book is how you pick up more the language. And I’m still not, eh, as good as I like to, but I can defend myself.
The Abundance of Sustenance
Food was a rarity at the time of Lucy’s adolescence in Guyana. Because of this, she overindulged in American food upon coming to America.
I- immediately- like I was eating everyting I want. Ouh you should say dat. I gained weight when I got here. Because I went crazy- I went crazy eating fried chicken. Every day I want half fried chicken and lots of ketchup. It was like- ahh my god I feel like I’m in heaven. Because in Guyana you barely have food. So every day dad- every Friday actually, dad when he gets his pay, he would buy half fried chicken – me and dad and sherry was here first – and we enjai our fried chicken oh my god. And then we does go to McDonald’s and Sherry will have the big mac and this- this French fries and this milkshake. We all gained weight. I didn’t realize wah it was doing. And chocolate I was going crazy about chocolate. Eating- and we were eating like crazy. Until we start gaining weight.
Schooling and Employment: Introduction
Amongst the many reasons why immigrants come to America, the opportunity to climb the socio-economic ladder has been the motive for hundreds of years. Some arrive with set skills that they then apply to an occupation, but many come with the dreams of acquiring skills in the American education system towards a high-paying job. American schools are unique in that anyone can take advantage of it and anyone can do well in it, and immigrants are often surprised by how liberal and encouraging the environment can be. However, immigrants also often face challenges in education and employment. Like learning English, education is a necessary stepping stone for attaining employment, and yet there are those who face the legal and financial issues of not having citizenship regardless of how hard they have worked.
Language and Norms: Introduction
Although the United States does not have an official language, learning English is arguably the most important component of integration for immigrants. Being able to communicate with other Americans is practical socio-economically, and yet it is not always so easy. Many struggle with learning the language, let alone its unusual idioms, the slang that is so pervasive on New York City streets, and feel even more alienated as a result. To add another level of complexity, immigrants must often communicate with other immigrants who also lack English proficiency! While some use television, books, and music to learn English, others manage to fit English classes into their busy city schedules. Younger immigrants can learn English in the American education system, and yet many immigrants also view learning English crucial to doing well in school so that they can find higher-paying jobs. Learning English is undoubtedly a stepping stone for immigrants, whether it is for themselves or for their children.
Introduction
Although New York City has been a major point of entry for immigration for hundreds of years, immigrants still experience a culture shock. The different smells, incredibly novel and unusual sights, and vast multiracial population can be both captivating and intimidating. For some, the chaos can be disenchanting from the city that has been immortalized in global popular culture. One thing is certain: there is no place like New York City elsewhere in the world.
Gaining Skills, Tackling Tedium, Changing Minds
Being a mathematician and scientist, I initially didn’t have any interest in this course, because it didn’t challenge or reinforce most of the skills required to be those two things. I never liked humanities courses, or anything titled “Interdisciplinary.” But having taken this course I can say that I actually enjoyed certain aspects of it and that I did learn new skills that I wouldn’t have in a math or science course, though they weren’t many and they weren’t too significant. Very basic elements of website design and excel skills are the two practical ones I learned in this course. Practical knowledge gained would be that of past immigration laws which allowed the demography of New York City to take its current form, and current immigration laws which affect Americans today, such as the Dream Act, which affects some of my friends. The majority of the course however, based itself upon the history of immigration of NYC, facts which I believe are mostly impractical but are interesting to know. Nonetheless, as annoyingly tedious as the coursework was (case in point – writing this post), it had its fun points, such as the walking tours, humorous class discussions, and class videos and tangents which used up class time.
The assignments themselves were, again, tedious, especially the statistical profile. However, I found the personal essay and interview valuable, for they prompted me to look deeper into my own roots, and why my parents decided to leave Guyana. Learning this has given me a more appreciate perspective of the fact that I was born in America and did not ever have to suffer the prevalent evils of third-world countries. I believe this is something many American-born citizens take for granted. But they cannot blamed for a lack of appreciation of current blessings after growing up in a profit-driven culture where the most exorbitant luxury is never enough and always precedes even greater future luxuries, which is clearly seen, for example, in the evolution of smartphones and cars.
So, I guess in the larger picture I can say this class has been beneficial to my perspective of life and intellectual well-being.
Born and Raised to Sit Down and Keep Quiet
Beatrice, a 20-year-old Italian immigrant, speaks about individualism and having a voice in America:
Here, I feel like its less disciplined, like, in comparison to schools in Italy, here, I think people speak up more. For example, if students have a problem with the test, they will be more open to the teacher, saying like, oh, but you didn’t say this was on it….people speak up more, and they were taught that what you have to say matter, everyone has a voice. And I’ve never really been like that because I was taught to keep quiet and stay in my place. I feel like the ideology here is that you’re an individual and it’s very foreign to me that people fight back and say, ‘I’m an adult, I’m an individual, you can’t tell me what to do…’
A Colorful Culture Shock
Beatrice, a 20-year-old Italian immigrant, discusses her impressions of the American school system and issues of safety after experiencing the 2001 terrorist attacks on NYC:
Everyone was just white. In my class there were no Blacks, no Chinese. All my friends were just white. I mean I’m not prejudiced or anything, but here people integrate more. There, I mean everyone is Italian. There’s no one from England or France or anything. It was very—it’s just, I don’t know, it was a culture shock. Oh, and it was right after 9/11 too. 9/11 happened on my third day of school, and I didn’t speak any English. My mom sat next to me and had to translate everything because I didn’t know what was going on. And it was just, it was very scary, that’s all. I didn’t feel safe here, I didn’t like where I was, I didn’t like the people at school… I stuck out. Like I was just used to a different kind of life.
Undocumented and Less Worthy
Fernando talks about his knowledge of the United States prior to immigrating.
I knew, is that if someone is here illegally and they do something, the first thing that happens is that they get deported—I knew I wasn’t going to have any right—Like hospitals, I wasn’t going to be able to go to one and receive medical care. I thought that if something happened to you, no one was going to help you, not even the police.
Fraud and Coming to America
Fernando describes what things pushed him to leave Guatemala:
I wanted to help my family, I wanted a better life…. I was happy and life was going great for me. I was in a good position economically. But it changed when my parents became victims of fraud… the land we lived on wasn’t ours…we had land titles and everything but they were false–We had to take out a loan from the bank in order to pay for the land […] but later we realized that we didn’t have the means to pay those loans off.
Learning English and Making Friends
Fernando talks about going to night school and how that expanded his social circle:
I went to night school in order to learn how to speak English. I speak it well, or so I think, but it is really difficult for me to read it and write it. [And] I met people; I met some of the people who I consider my closest friends. I also met my fiancée.
Learning English
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, describes her difficult but rewarding procoess with learning English:
I can say for sure that the language, I mean, English, improved a lot since I came here. There is no doubt, especially when you interact with people. Most of the time, I speak Russian at home, but when it comes to work or communicating with people even outside the home, you speak and practice your language skills. Also, when you watching TV, or you’re reading…I don’t know. I only read English books, I don’t read that much Russian language. Especially when you practice, it helps you a lot to improve your language skills. […] I wanted and I needed to because without knowing English – everyone speaks English in this country, so it’s necessary for you to learn to be able to, as I mentioned before, to be able to communicate with people, to find your job, to do the other stuff.
American Life
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, talks of her experiences adjusting to life in America:
Basically, it was… in the beginning, it was very hard and difficult process to get used to all the new surrounding in terms of cultures, customs, and without knowing of language, it was hard to land any job, and we went to…we started to study language to the extent that we can communicate freely to…go to different places, to communicate with people, and finally we went to college to some…to get some kind of degree and majors that we can utilize in this country.
Immigration
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, has been in the United States for 23 years. Her immigration to this country was aided by a helpful nonprofit organization:
Actually some immigrate – some organization help us to – with immigration. It was Jewish organization, NYANA, which, upon arrival to this country – actually, we started with this organization, they gave us some input, how to…whatever, how to start our new beginning in new country, and this way, at least – okay, this way, we can rely on something to give us a hand.
Surprisingly Politically Active
Neville, a 63-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, remembers that college jumpstarted his political activism in the United States:
In college, you know, I was very, very involved. Very involved. Did some fundraising for, you know, like drought areas in the Sahel Desert. Sahel is a region that goes across, uhm, Africa and the Sahara – Chad, Mauritania, uhm it’s like a dry belt and it’s had bad situations with drought. So you get involved with that at that level and on the college level, you had struggles with English department, uhm, dominating the African Studies department. Things like that… and it’s not just the, uhm you know, race or anyting like that. I did a lot of stuff: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch…
Revolution
Neville, a 63-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, reflects on why people leave the safety and familiarity of their home countries:
Yeah, [Jamaicans] migrate a lot. It’s what they call, um, a pressure release? People migrate because if, uhm, if it wasn’t for migration, then you’d have revolution… because there would be no outlet for individuals to acquire what they’re looking for, what the government can’t give them.
Shocking Street Language
Neville, a 63-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, reveals a light-hearted anecdote on his introduction to American slang:
Uhm, a part of it is that culture thing, that language, the jargon, the street-language. I heard for the first time the word “MF.” Right? How I heard “MF” was that one young man introduced me to, uhm, his friend. And uhm, he said to the — in the course of talking, he said “You are a MF” and I took it literally!… And I-I-I just couldn’t even look at the guy, you know?… When the person left and the next person came up, another person called him the same word. I noticed that when they were using the word, they were smiling! Then I-I asked what that meant, and they said no it’s just an expression, you know. It was one of the things I had to go through, you know. It doesn’t necessarily mean how it sounds.
The Jailhouse Lawyer
Neville, a 63-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, discusses how he combats discrimination, not only for himself but also for those who cannot stand up for themselves:
Well I’ve experienced discrimination on the job. You experience it back in the 60’s, 70’s yeah… What happened to me was that I had a good sense of self. On the job, wherever I worked, I was the jailhouse lawyer, you know. What that meant was individuals who were not treated fairly and needed formalize their grievances with the company, I would write their letters, when nobody knew. You know, so individuals– sometimes people are about to be terminated, and uh, we’d just talk and I would write the letter personally with them and they could put their letter in the file and they’re still on the job.
Neville
Neville, a 63-year-old immigrant from Jamaica, has been living in the United States for forty-five years.
Missing the Homeland
Jenny, a 20-year-old woman from South Korea, speaks about why she misses home:
I want to go back to Korea. No offense but I don’t like it here. I don’t like the way everything is set up. In Korea you can go anywhere by walking. On every street there are little stores. Where I live now you have to drive a car, I’m 30 minutes from the nearest store. Also the subways are much cleaner than here. There are also glass doors. The train arrives and there are glass doors to prevent people from falling into the tracks. Here it’s so dirty, and smelly, and there are cockroaches, and rats.
Accepted
During his time of assimilation, he has been treated like an equal.
…I will say I think I have ever feel discriminated but I have seen that on other people. At work, on tv, people that I know. But I will say to me, not really. I don’t really remember that I hear anything racial or I got any problem like that. But I hear it. You know, when I go to work, on the train, I see some people shouting to the other people either from my country or other Latin people. And yeah, probably one time. Probably one time. I was listening to Christian music and there was this guy. He was not a Christian and he was like oh why don’t you take off that music. He was saying bad words. I just calmed down and I didn’t want to get into problems. So I said if it bothers you I’ll just turn it off. But I’d say that is a religion problem, not racial.
If We Win the Families, We Win the World
Ralph, a 29-year-old Mexican immigrant, came to the United States nearly 12 years ago. Now, as an appointed and certified minister, Ralph seeks to help bring about social change in America through his ministries:
And as a church or as a minister, as a member of the church, one of the goals, one of the dreams that I had is helping the families to grow together. If we win the families, we win the world. If we rescue the families, we rescue the country, our world. As an immigrant, it was a challenge to learn all these things because my only goal when I came here was to work. Just to get money. But it all has changed. It all has changed. So I will say my contribution as an immigrant, even though it is a big challenge, I am learning and even though it is in English language, I want to become a teacher. Teaching the Bible and helping these families to stay together and keeping families together. At this time, it is very easy when families start and they just broke up. All the kids are without parents. Many kids. We don’t want that in our church. We want families to keep to continue together and grow together. I think it’s a big contribution to society
Learning English Can Be Fun Too
Ralph, a 29-year-old entrepreneurial immigrant, came to the United States from Mexico nearly 12 years ago. His undocumented status did not hinder his attempts to learn English:
Yeah because I tried school. First thing I want to do was try school. I went to the English school and I start learning, but I thought it was too slow. Like what is your name. all these things. A lot of these students, this will take a while. I just went two times. Because I love listening to music. I went to the record store, and I bought music. I read the songs as I was listening. So I was listening so I learned the pronunciation . I was reading at the same time. Then I got the dictionary to translate all the words. All the songs. So translate it, I listen to it, and I repeat it. And I was doing that for almost every day. And I listen to the songs going to my work, coming back. Translating the songs. I learned a lot in a single year. I was already speaking English. Then I just stopped doing it. That was my problem. I shouldn’t stop doing that. I thought okay I can defend myself. But it was that way. It really worked, I just learned real quick.
Difficulties of the English Language
Jenny, a 20-year-old woman from South Korea, speaks of her difficulties with learning English:
I didn’t even have friends. When I first came here English was my biggest problem. I did not understand a single word they said. And the kids made fun of me because I didn’t know English, I feel like they were talking about me but I didn’t get it. […] My mom tried so many things on me. She tried phonics, she tried vocab words, she tried movies, she tried TV shows, making me read newspapers, none of that worked. […] I was a total failure though. I started understanding English from school. I started talking to the teacher one-on-one. That kind of worked.
Making the Process Look Easy
Jenny, a 20-year-old woman from South Korea, briefly states why moving to New York City was easy for her family:
My dad came with a student visa and then he got a green card because his company sponsored him. So it was kind of a great thing for us. After like a year of arriving here we got our green card.
