Louise Alice Gosebrink Analysis

In “Leave Your Name At the Border” by Manuel Munoz, he talks about how immigrants are in a sense forced to change their name to something more American so that it will be easier not only for the people around that don’t speak Spanish, but so that it would be easier for them to get jobs. Manuel talks about how it would also be helpful for them to learn English because it would be beneficial to them getting higher in the workplace. “Clear communication meant you could go unsupervised. Every gesture made toward convincing an employer that English was on its way to being mastered had the potential to make a season of fieldwork

This situation is relative to real life instances of immigration, as those moving to America with the hopes of improving their own lives and the lives of their family members are, in some cases, unfamiliar with the English language. Therefore, they must somehow learn the ways of the new people surrounding them in order to be accepted in this environment and also be able to communicate with others so they can attempt to obtain jobs to support themselves and family. Understanding the same language clearly plays an important role in assimilating to new surroundings.

For more than 300 years, immigrants from every corner of the globe have settled in America, creating the most diverse and heterogeneous nation on Earth. Though immigrants have given much to the country, their process of changing from their homeland to the new land has never been easy. To immigrate does not only mean to come and live in a country after leaving your own country, but it also means to deal with many new and unfamiliar situations, social backgrounds, cultures, and mainly with the acquisition and master of a new language. This often causes mixed emotions, frustration, awkward feelings, and other conflicts. In Richard Rodriguez’s essay “Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood”, the author

When people can’t speak the new language they can’t communicate, this means they can’t get a job, which means they can’t get money, which means they can’t reach the American dream.

Unconsciously, we all speak different languages; we categorize the way we speak by the environment and people at which we are speaking too. Whenever a character enters an unfamiliar environment, they experiment with language to find themselves and understand reality. For immigrants, language is a means to retain one’s identity; however, as they become more assimilated in their new communities their language no longer reflects that of their identity but of their new cultural surroundings. When an immigrant, immigrates to a new country they become marginalized, they’re alienated from common cultural practices, social ritual, and scripted behavior. It’s not without intercultural communication and negotiation

To begin with, in many cases, one of the biggest hurdles for an immigrant to overcome is the language barrier. Imagine the fear an immigrant must feel, being immersed in a society whose language and culture is entirely different from their own. The bravery and diligence displayed by such foreigners to overcome this fear is admirable to

Life as an immigrant in the U.S was not all that great. First, they had to learn English

America has always been labeled the “melting pot” and the “land of the free,” but when one is analyzing the history and social norms of the country, these statements are far from true. America has thrived through the oppression of minority groups and social pressure towards these groups to conform to the majority culture. In any historical sense, from the near extermination of Native Americans to the racial profiling of Muslim individuals after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, minority groups have always been the victims and have always been viewed as different if they do not assimilate into the “typical” American culture. Numerous works of literature have successfully displayed the struggles that minorities face when attempting to conform. Two works in particular, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman and When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, tell stories of two different minority groups: Native Americans living in the 21st century and Japanese-Americans during World War II. While these stories are separated by several decades, it is clear that American culture has not changed, as each story exemplifies how difficult it truly is to leave old cultural norms behind in order to be accepted by the majority.

A common joke says “What do you call someone who speaks two languages?” in which the person being asked the question would usually respond with “bilingual.” It goes on to ask about those who speak three or four languages, but then there is a kicker. “What does one call someone who only speaks one language?” to which the punch line is “an American.” According to the 2006 General Social Survey, only 25 percent of American adults are fluent in a foreign language, while only 7 percent cite the source of this education to formal schooling (Devlin 1). Large amounts of evidence point to the benefits of being multilingual. Although the United States has a few laws that help immigrants assimilate through dual language programs, there is little to be

There are emotional and legal concerns surrounding whether immigrants should learn to speak English. Domenico Maceri (2009), an award-winning author and foreign language instructor at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria California, states “I never met an immigrant in the United States who needed laws to be reminded that English is necessary to succeed” (par. 9).

Language is much more than a method of communication. Permeated within it are traditions, customs, and legacies of one’s culture. The identity of an entire population is in the distinct vocalizations of their native language. Unfortunately, as a wave of immigrants enters the United States at young ages, many face language barriers that pose significant challenges. Language barriers affect a multitude of immigrant populations to different degrees. This, in turn, causes many of them to abandon not only their native tongue but a piece of their ethnic identity, as well. In Maxine Hong Kingston’s personal narrative,“The Language of Silence,” she describes the difficulties she experienced throughout her childhood with a language barrier as a

“Immigration” a controversial issue that argues two sides, the perspective of Americans and the reality of an immigrant. As a daughter of parents who migrated to the Unites States from El Salvador, I personally believe that immigrants are the correct side from what the Americans see or believe; however, just like anything else there will be two different sides; the good immigrants and the bad immigrants. For example, first, the US has immigrants with different types of crimes committed. Then, we have the issue of jobs with immigrants. Third, an additional issue is the cost of having immigrants that has many questions regarding the benefit. Last but not least, foreign language has been an accommodated at the United States and has been under

Within ethnic communities, there are a huge number of people who face language barriers that prevents them from seeking employment outside of their ethnic community. People within these ethnic enclaves do not feel the need to learn the dominant language, because the majority of the population with their community speaks the same language as they do. Places like San Francisco’s China town has established their own enclave that includes everything from grocery shops to hospitals. This

It is important for immigrants to learn to speak and write in English while keeping their native tongue. Without knowing how to speak the common language here, it is impossible to blend

The language barrier is one of the biggest problems people face when they move to another country. Many immigrants who come from other countries are met with many linguistic challenges that not only impede their control of daily life tasks but also their ability to survive. I believe that it is important for immigrants to speak a national language. If they are unable to speak a national language, they will be unable to function to the fullest and therefore become isolated and disempowered from the community.