My Family 's Lifecycle Of Development

Growing up with parents who are immigrants can present many obstacles for the children of those immigrants. There are many problems people face that we do not even realize. Things happen behind closed doors that we might not even be aware of. Writers Sandra Cisneros and Amy Tan help us become aware of these problems. Both of these authors express those hardships in their stories about growing up with foreign parents. Although their most apparent hardships are about different struggles, both of their stories have a similar underlying theme.

Your last name belongs to the family, and you can’t cut yourselves off from your ancestors.” To this, the young boy answers “Baloney!.” This particular argument not only highlights the cultural differences in their thoughts on the meaning of names but also the different definition of a family each culture has. In the Chinese culture, the family is centered around the veneration of the ancestors and elders are the ones who hold the power within the household due to their wise nature. While in American culture the family is commonly defined as only including the nuclear family members, the mother, the father, and their children. These values clashed during the argument between the grandfather and the child when the child not only disregarded the importance of his ancestors but also disrespected his grandfather to the point where his grandmother had to intervene and by stating “You mustn’t speak to your granddad like that.” The children further display their American interpretation of family when the boy tells the grandfather “This isn’t your home,” and then the little girl follows by stating “You’re just our guests.” This argument clearly displays the clash between family members of different generations dramatized by their

“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” (-Mark Twain) Being a child of immigrant parents who move to American can be hard. There is a lingering feeling of not feeling like a child belongs. They are stuck in the invisible world between where their parents came from, in this specific case, Asia and where the child lives now. It can be difficult to be raised as an Asian American and learning both culture and traditions. Many Asian American kids end up deviating from the Asian culture and embracing the American culture. However, children of immigrants should embrace their own culture in order to keep traditions alive and be proud of who they are.

The emergence of the second generation bloomed quickly and by 1930, 41% of the Chinese population in America was naturalized born citizens. The birth of a child in America was symbolization of an elite status in an Asian American’s family (Lee 177). First generation immigrant parents feared the worst for their children who were second generation Asian Americans. The parents of the children feared that their children will grow up learning the American culture and language that they would become too “Americanized” and forget

From a very young age, I contended with countless setbacks, but the vitality placed on our income at home was the leading factor to my family’s problems. I remember when my parents chose to buy me a new pair of running shoes over paying the electricity bill or when they stayed up all night making tamales to sell so they could afford to pay for medical bills. There never went a month without my parents constantly arguing over the monthly rent or not having enough to buy groceries for the family. I grew up with five siblings in addition to two cousins who were sent from Mexico by their parents and placed under the legal guardianship of my parents. Naturally, learning to adapt to unfortunate circumstances was not rare and I quickly understood

In recent studies, the United States has seen an increase in numbers in immigration and has affected both adolescent education and the work environment. These families are forced to learn a new language and blend into a new society. In the article Obstacles to Getting Ahead by Martica L. Bacallao and Paul R. Smokowski “Monolingualism and discrimination in interpersonal interactions and social policies directed Mexican adolescents and their parents to learn English and to conform to host culture norms, appearance, and behaviors to advance in school and in their work.” (1). Lately, education has been a struggle for immigrants due to the language barrier and the effects that it has on them such as depression, anxiety, and even feel abandonment.

​Due to the immigrant children (Richard and his siblings) being around the American way consistently and are encouraged more on the American way of life, they adapted easier than their parents did in America though. Rodriguez mentions that while his parents lacked the resources and availability to become Americanized and learn the language, it caused family separation. While reading this, I reflected on how tragic this move has ended up. I believe that to prevent this separation, the children should not only continue to express their original culture with their parents, but to also share and teach their parents what they have learned. This could potentially

In 1995, my family left Thailand as refugees and came to the United States. My Parents and I did not know how to speak English upon arrival, which limited our self-reliance and independence. Luckily, my older sister and her husband had been part of the first waves of Hmong immigrants to come to the United States and they had already acclimated to American’s culture. For the first couple of years, my brother-in-law acted as a translator and as my family’s personal guide to all things American. Of course, my brother-in-law wasn’t fluent in English, but instead, spoke a broken version of English which was adequate for taking us to the grocery stores and enough to teach us some of the cultural norms. This made the transition from the jungles of

Even though my parents provide the roof above my head and the food on my table, I would consider myself the unofficial head of the house. Being the only child and the sole English speaker in an immigrant family, I have had to guide my parents through practically everything. When we came to America ten years ago and did not know anything, my parents turned to their friends and community centers. As I learned more English, my parents stopped depending on friends and translators and started putting all the letters on my desk. I got used to explaining the phone bills and our health plan options, and writing their checks and filling out my mom’s EDD forms became second nature. Getting used to all of it, though, does not make it easy. I remember

These generation of immigrants struggle with identifying with their natal language, food, maintaining a close knit relationship with their parents and culture on a general level. Most of the people I interviewed agreed that their parents had played an extremely significant role in their lives. There was even evidence that that for the benefit of their children, parents tried to transmit cultural and familial points of reference to their children and embed them in a cultural social network of meaning (Sabatier & Berry, 2008). They stated that though while growing up there was an inherent desire to be like their parents, their parents took it into their own hands and upon themselves to micro manage their children’s lives. They basically dictated what their child did, who they got to hang around with and even made sure to deal with any form of

Because America is such a diverse country, there are many differences between cultures of various immigrant groups. Members of each culture, have their own beliefs and values regarding what they think is right. The cultural diversity allows for each person to have a different view of things. Amy Chua’s essay “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” she describes her way of parenting her two daughters following Chinese values about education. She explains how Western parents are much more lenient than Chinese parents with their children and education. Chua gives examples of how she raised her daughter Lulu and Sophia which lead them to achieve success. She makes comparisons between Western and Chinese parenting styles throughout the essay and concludes that both types of parents want the best for their children, but just approach parenting it in different ways. In the article, “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” Amy Chua is interviewed by Belinda Luscombe where she clarifies how her Chinese method of parenting did not hurt her children the way many readers thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many effective ways of parenting in addition to the Chinese approach. Chua’s essay shows the Chinese immigrant approach to parenting and gives insight into why so many children of Chinese parents are so successful. Discussing the cultural differences shows the risk of stereotyping groups where feelings

As a product of immigration, I was shaped by the unique benefits and challenges of spending my developmental years in multiple cultures. I was born in the rural province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines but spent most of my early childhood years in the country’s capital city of Manila. When I was six years old, my family moved to Singapore for several years before settling down in Guam by my ninth birthday, when my father contracted a job with an international hotel franchise. Learning to navigate the cultural discrepancies in my life soon became a norm, one that shaped my values and priorities. Through trial and error, I developed skills to adapt and succeed across cultural boundaries as I encountered new people ceaselessly through my

As America being such a diverse country, we come across the differences between cultures of immigrant families. Each culture having their own beliefs and values to what they think is right. Cultural diversity is seen everyday where there are different expressions or views from any person. Everyday cultural differences show society how each person has their own way of doing things. Amy Chua writes an excerpt called “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior,” on her way parenting her two daughters following the chinese culture. She explains how western parents are much more lenient than chinese parents with their children and education. Chua gives examples of how she raised her daughter Lulu and Sophia leading them to success. She makes comparisons between western and chinese parents throughout the essay and concludes that both type of parents want the best for their children just do it in different ways (Chua 52). In the article, named “Chinese vs Western Mothers: Q&A with Amy Chua,” is an interview with the author Amy Chua where she clarifies her chinese way of parenting did not hurt her children the way the audience thought it did. Chua explains that her relationship with her two daughters is very strong and believes there are many good ways of parenting not just the chinese way (Luscombe, par.17). Reading Amy Chua’s essay has shown the chinese immigrant way of parenting where people gain knowledge on how they do things and answer their questions on how chinese people are so

Familial expectations hold a significant impact on the development of an individual’s outlook on life. In some cultures, such as Asians, children are enforced with strict standards from their parents. These children are expected to be outstanding in every aspect of society, such as educational and behavior-wise. To put it simply, the children are expected to be perfect puppets, mindless dolls that only listen to their puppeteer, the parents. These expectations define an individual’s perspective, personal concepts, and standards on oneself as well as the world. To demonstrate, in “Two Kinds” by Amy Tan, the mother continuously tries to impose on her daughter rigorous standards to achieve, standards she inherit from the older generations. Chinese

3. Become aware of the “alive versus the inanimate” and “familiar versus unfamiliar” and develop rudimentary social interaction.