Overcoming Immigration Strategies

Coming from a new country I had to face many challenges. All these challenges made who I am today. When I came to the United States in 7th grade, I barely knew how to speak English. The language barrier posed a serious problem for me. I found it difficult to interact with people. Adjusting to a new country was no easy task. When my family and I came to this country, we knew only one other family. It was even more difficult for my parents who knew virtually no English. They had to learn how to work and provide for me and my siblings in this entirely new country with a completely different culture. Despite having a better background in English, it still took me over two years to become fluent in English. Although coming to America and having

Moving from Jordan to the United States was challenging for my family. I was the only child at the time and my parents primarily spoke Arabic in the house. The elementary teachers I had described me as a timid student, because I could barely speak English. I had difficulty with simple reading and writing, while other students went through class with ease. Needing extra tutoring classes and years of being in ESL was exhausting. However, learning how to read, write, and speak English fluently was only the beginning of my journey.

Again I was struggling not to let myself down and to learn the concepts of the new country. At first everything was hard; I had a lot of difficulties on all my classes due to the lack of reading and understanding the language. I remember when my 7th grade English teacher handed me the book “A Child Called It” by Dave Pelzer; I was stuck in the first page “I’d never realized so many words existed!”(Malcolm X 432).I kept solving my problems by myself, using the dictionary, searching words on the internet, and comparing some Spanish words with English ones. For some reason I didn’t like when people tried to translate and when the school tried to assign me Spanish tutors. I felt that getting help in Spanish wasn’t any good and it just disrupted my learning. Even though school was hard “I refused to fail. I was smart. I was arrogant. I was lucky.” (Alexie 447).I accomplished my goal of passing 7th grade. During the summer I used to go to the library and read books, because I didn’t understand most of them, and I found reading in English innocuous for the first month. After I got the handle of reading and writing once again, I felt confident of myself, and my life came back to normal.

My entire family was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. After three and a half years of living there my family decided to seek a better future in The United States. My father would go to the United States back and forth to work and earn money to send to us in Mexico. Eventually my mother was able to get a visa and my brother along with my little sister had an alternate way into the United States. We lived in Dallas Texas and Atlanta Georgia before settling in Howard county Maryland in a very small apartment. Luckily we were doing pretty well with my dad being the only one knowing English at the time. My father was working two jobs and I was getting ready to start kindergarten. I was very excited because the education we would have received in Mexico was nothing compared to the education in Howard County. I was excited for what was to come, but there were disadvantages of knowing only Spanish. Being bullied because of my poor English had an impact on me. I was in completely separate classes learning things that were simple compared to the regular course. I was excluded from certain activities, field trips and assemblies. I was clueless at first though as I slowly learned the language I understood things a lot more.

Coming back to the U.S. for the second time in my life after nine years was perhaps one of the most challenging obstacles I have ever had to face. Not only did I have to accustom myself to the language but also to a newer, differentiated culture. Also, with that came some bullying and taunting that did not pull me down but instead opened my eyes to see what a strong and enduring person I could be. With help from my teachers and my supporting family as they helped buffer my experience and transition to a different world, I was able to overcome the typical immigrant challenge that thousands have to face.

When I first started school, I remember how difficult it was for me to make the transition from Spanish to English. My Mom left me at the door of the school in the morning, but since I was placed in an English-only classroom, the next time I opened my mouth to speak to anyone was when she picked me up again that afternoon. I didn't know what anyone was saying around me, and to make matters worse, my teacher didn't speak a single word of Spanish. That day, like every other day, I came home crying because I felt like an outsider. That year was very difficult for me because I ended up in the back corner of the classroom not participating. As a result, I had to take several years of summer school in order to catch up, something that

After arriving in the United States, things weren’t as wonderful as we had planned for. Coming to such a unique place in the world was a blessing, but it brought many obstacles to me and my family. It was truly one of the greatest obstacles I had to face learning a new language and getting used to the American life. Getting placed into the ELL program made me feel like I had to work harder than everyone else just to get simple things done. I was made fun of due to the lack of my abilities in speaking English. This only pushed me to work harder and become the best that I can be in everything I do. One thing that stayed the same was the level of support my family members here in the U.S. were able to provide me with to help me get through the

When I arrived to the United States I faced a challenging situation in my life, I didn’t know English. This challenging as I didn’t know how to communicate with any of my teachers or classmates, and I wasn’t able to do any of my work. Not being able to participate in class upsetted me because in Mexico I was use to doing all my classwork and homework. Therefore, I decided that I was going to do everything in my power to learn English quickly. So, when the my ESL teacher announced to my parents that they were going to have to take to school during the summer, I didn’t mind at all. When I was in summer school I learned a lot of English due to my determination and my hard work. Looking back I wouldn’t do things differently because I know that

When I arrived here, no one in my family spoke english and my siblings had a rough time getting accustomed in school. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to start Kindergarten here and

However, before I started high school, my father's workplace was transferred therefore I moved to the United States with my family. I went to a local high school in California and I thought I have to go through the hardship of cultural different over again. Fortunately, I adapted to the American life much quicker than when I lived in Australia due to my experience with a foreign culture. Also, I did not experience too much difficulty with the English language even though accent and pronunciation were different from Australia. As a second language learner who had experience of learning a new language, I understand how difficult it is to assimilate into a foreign culture and to learn its language.

When I entered school my parents refused to place me in the Spanish-speaking classroom. They feared the discrimination I would face as an immigrant segregated from Americans, a complexity that they combated everyday in their lives. No matter what my parents tried, they could not shake the feeling that they did not belong here. So much so that I was forced into an English speaking class with barely any knowledge of the language. Although I was scared at first, I was an obedient student and thus able to blend in like any American child, just like my parents wanted. After a couple years, I even began to give my father basic lessons in the English language during dinnertime, explaining to him the difference between hot dog and perro caliente. Somewhere between my effortful pronunciation and accidental commentary in English, I lost him. He exclaimed that he didn't need to know English, that I knew it well enough for the entire family. As the reality hit me, my

“We are moving to America!” my parents announced at the family meeting. My face started to heat up from anger. I didn’t want to leave my friends and the area that I grew up in. Saying goodbye to my friends was really difficult for me, but it was even harder to be the only non-English speaking student in Cupertino, California. Even though I am a shy person, I tried my best to communicate withto my teacher and my classmates, but I couldn’t express my thoughts in a whole new language. All of the frustration and stress caused me to cry, both at home and in my class.

I was in Spanish classes that I didn’t want to attendt. At first this concept of the English language was incredibly difficult for me. But then it started to flow and I was learning English at a rapid pace. I went from Spanish only classes to bilingual classes. I was in this classes for a long time. By this time, I could speak English and have full on conversations with other people but I still felt held back because I had to go to bilingual classes. At this point the goal was to get out of these classes because I felt like different from all the other kids. I remember this was one of the first goals that I had set out for myself. All I wanted to do is to get out so I dedicated myself to pass these classes. I would try to go above and beyond to show the teachers that I was ready to move on. I keep trying and trying until one day I showed up to my usual bilingual class and the teacher looked at my funny wondering why I still showed up to this class. She told me to go with the other kids and join them. This was one of my happiest moments then, because I could finally go to the normal English classes with the other kids and, I finally accomplished a goal I had set out for

One incident, which I feel like my help worked, was when I helped my significant other get a job. He was so distraught because I was the only one providing for the family and I’m struggling to be financially stable and it really bothered him. He really wanted to help but due to his past record a lot of jobs turned him down. So I gave him some encouraging words, to not give up and to fill out at least 3 job applications a day and also fill out some for him too. One day a job called him and he got a job working at a warehouse. It was such a blessing because now there is two incomes in the household and I don’t have to struggle any more.

One of my protective factors was sociocultural, the supports from love’s one. When I first came to United States 11 years ago, I could not speak any words of English. Students would sometimes made fun of me because of my broken English, and I was sad. However, with the support of my ESL teachers, friends that have been here longer than I am, and my parents. I got through my years, it was tough but I couldn’t do it without their