My Hmong-American Experience

Firstly, increasing one’s cultural competence is instrumental to becoming a more empathic and understanding person and teacher. Cultural competence involves understanding another person’s culture without judgement and realizing that even if their ideas or beliefs are different, that does not mean they are wrong. If one learns about their students’ cultures and backgrounds, they will be able to speak and interact with these students in an appropriate way. If the students are refugees and come from a traumatic past, teachers should approach any personal questions they have sensitively. Sometimes people have prejudices or believe stereotypes and they may not even realize it. The Hmong people were widely dispersed and no two Hmong people will be the same. It is crucial that teachers do not assume that each person has the same values and

Before moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, two and a half years ago, I lived in Storm Lake, a small rural town located in northwest Iowa. There was no big Hmong population there, only a few family friends. I was very hesitant to share my culture at school because I did not know how to explain the elaborate traditions and its purposes. For example, sacrificing animals to ancestors is an outdated practice and not understood by many people. Traditions like this only exist in historical textbooks. I was scared of being judged and looked on as weird. I did not know the purpose of dressing up in traditional clothing for new years, or what was the purpose of celebrating Hmong new year. I envied other cultures, for they had a history that was widely known and written down in text. I had no appreciation for my culture.

The Hmong people are originally from rural mountainous areas in Laos and they still inhabit that country to this day. Laos is a country that is located in Southeast Asia. Hmong people are divided into clans or tribes that share the same paternal ancestry. The Hmong people inhabited all parts of Laos but all carried pretty much the same cultures and livelihood with them as many immigrated to the United States in the past few decades (Ohio State University, 2005).

Once my family and I moved to Indiana, I had a hard time making friends because it felt like I was always the odd one out in school. Every year I would usually be the only Asian kid in the classroom which made somewhat awkward and very quiet. On my second year of school here in Indiana I met someone who is

Upon their arrival, Hmong faced “multiple social, cultural, educational, economic, and institutional barriers and challenges” (Hmong National Development, 2004; Lee, Jung, Su, Tran, & Bahrassa, 2009, p. 559). As the Hmong settled down in the United States, they found that education was vital for their children’s future (Lee & Green, 2008). A study conducted by Reder (1982) found that “73% [of Hmong adults]

Although, I identify myself as a Hmong woman now, it wasn’t until I was accepted into Fresno State of 2001, when I discover and began to appreciate what Hmong meant to me. Prior to college, I knew little to nothing about my culture and the Hmong history. I also faced many challenges that skew me away from maintaining and accepting my cultural

My research topic is Hmong parents have lower expectation for their children with disabilities compared to children without disabilities. My hypothesis is do Hmong children with disabilities receive lower expectation from their parents than his or her siblings without disabilities in terms of education or in life? My theory is that Hmong parents have lower expectation for their children with disabilities compared to children without disabilities through various research studies available. From the research studies that I found, Hmong parents do have lower expectation for their children with disabilities compared to children without disabilities. Specifically educational goal, some parents reported to have no educational goal for their children

The Hmong had to face many changes in coming to the U.S. For example, the big change they faced was the language barrier. I would have to say that was the main cause of role loss many adult Hmong people faced. Another main cause was the lifestyle. In Laos they were used to working in the farms and providing for themselves. On the contrary in the U.S they had to adapt to the new lifestyle of living mainly in the city. This loss affects their adjustment to America drastically. For instance, due to the language barrier when they are in need of any kind of help it may be difficult for them to find it. It can be especially difficult in medical conditions. For example, most of Lia’s treatments were difficult for the family to understand, simply because

The Hmong hold a reputation for being a resilient and proud people. “Hmong do not like to take orders; that they do not like to lose; that they would rather flee, fight, or die than surrender; that they are not intimidated by being outnumbered; that they are rarely persuaded that the customs of other cultures, even those more powerful than their own” (Fadiman 17). It is no surprise that throughout the novel, the Lee family encounters several cultural barriers from the minute that their daughter, Lia, was born.

There are 54 ethnic groups in our country, but I think the Hmong has the most special traditions, the unique costume, and cultural festivals. So today I am going to talk about the Hmong. They have a population of about one a half million, accounting for about 8% of the population in Viet Nam. They live in the mountainous regions in the North like Lao Cai, Lam Dong, Ha Giang, ... some people of the group living overseas: Laos, Thailand, China, .. because of their history of migration and their origins, mostly why they work for their ancestors. The Hmong divided into several groups: White Mong, Black Mong, Red Mong, Green Mong, ...and they live in harmony. They live in warm and comfortable bungalows, there is plenty of room to stay. The Hmong

Within the Hmong culture there were not any problems in regards to family or issues. In one of the articles it states, “The value placed by the Hmong on family and sense of community can be defined as the most important dynamic within their culture” (Tatman 2004). The Hmong place emphasis on family and community life seriously, hence why there are rarely any issues amongst them. Within the Hmong families, they experienced great shock once the Vietnam War occurred. Many Hmong migrated to the United States. When the Hmong came to the United States, “the government enacted a “scattering policy” for Indochinese refugees from 1975 to 1980. This policy attempted to scatter Hmong refugees…” (Tatman 2004). This act allowed only a certain amount of

My parents, both Hmong, came to America in 1987. A safe and prosperous environment to grow up in, full of knowledge and money. They believed in the opportunities and achievements that America held for my siblings and I, chances that they never had in their life. I come from a family, that talks very little about how we care and love one another. My parents rarely gave my siblings and I praises, whenever we accomplished things.

After reading the article by Jeff Lindsey; Culture Clash: The Hmong in America Social Problems faced by the Hmong people about the Hmong Teens. I can see as we discussed earlier that these people are absent what means the most to them, trying to blend their cultures here in the United States their culture is so foreign and different from

When I was 14 I changed schools. I went from a massive middle school to a high school that had less than 300 people. These 300 kids all grew up together. They went from kindergarten, to middle school to high school together. They all played sports together, went to church together and developed long lasting friendships. Growing up I had bad taste in friends. I have no siblings so I’m a fairly shy individual, so when it came to choosing friends I gravitated towards the more popular kids who everybody envied and wanted to be friends with. The friends I had in elementary school weren’t very nice. While I was friends with them they still picked on me like they did to everyone else. The difference with me was that I thought, “Well we’re friends

In my ideal future, I want to be able to pick my spouse and for my spouse to have the choice to decline me or not. I do not believe that it is right to force someone into marriage no matter the circumstances. In a very traditional Hmong family, all marriages are determined and approved by the parents of the couples or by the elders of a community. However, my family is not a very traditional family because all my siblings assimilated into the “Western culture”, which influences my parents’ beliefs even though they were born and raised back in South East Asia.