User talk:PNguyen

From The Peopling of New York City

The Korean community has the advantage of having a community that is centered on a faith organization. The church functions both as a community center, a cultural center, and a support group for recent immigrants. This in turn produces both formal networks and informal social network, which in turn results in a Korean community united in ethnic newspapers, small service industry businesses, and social communal ties. The Korean churches addresses the needs of the community, regardless of faith, and provides services such as job referrals, business information, Korean-language schools for second-generation children, and a place for elders to keep in touch with their peers. For elders especially, the Korean church serves as an outlet from the boredom resulting from a world foreign to them due to the language border. The Korean Church serves as a means of assimilation and preserving their culture. One reason why the Korean Church has proliferated so much in the United States when compared to other community groups in other ethnicities such as the Chinese is because of their monolingual background. Unlike the Chinese community, which has many different dialects, which often hinders communication between the groups or even facilitates resentment amongst the groups, the Korean community does not have to struggle with the language barrier within the community. The monolingual background also works to facilitate the growth of the ethnic media. Due to the uniform language, the media is able to have a wider customer base and a wider context to cover. With the existence of several newspapers, radio channels, and TV programs, not only does the Korean media keep the community informed but also connected to the ongoing of the enclave once they move away from the central area. The Korean community is especially known for generally running specific service sector businesses such as dry-cleaning, groceries, and nail salons. While the Korea immigrants are usually well educated, the environment of the United States does not exactly offer opportunities for them to exercise those skills. This forces them to turn to service sector jobs. The reason why Koreans are so concentrated in certain services is the result of chain employment where earlier Koreans often make it easier for later Korean immigrants to find starts in the same industries. Aside from this, the Korean’s work ethics and language barrier make owning their own business one of the few options the have as a means for employment.