Immigration has been a major conflict and has brought difficulty towards the people immigrating. Many families immigrate to another country to find a better future and escape from their country either because of violence, political issues or poverty. However, this creates difficulty socially and challenges their culture. I have seen these recurring patterns of immigration this past quarter in a modern day setting. I tutor first and second graders in an elementary school in Santa Ana who are behind on their reading level and I can see the challenge that these students face.

One of the students I tutor is from Mexico and is learning how to speak English. Sometimes he tells me stories about when he used to live in Mexico and that he misses being over there. I am not aware of the reason he and his family moved here but I can say that I can see it is difficult for him to adjust. Many immigrants come to escape their country and seek opportunity for them and their posterity. This is a recurring theme seen in many immigrant stories, for instance, the Cambodian immigrants. In my Humanities Core lecture, Professor Vo explained that the Cambodian people could not live in their own country because of the violence due to the Khmer Rouge taking power. People suffered losing their family during the violence and having to make the decision of leaving some of them behind. This affects them socially because when they came to the US, they were not accepted by everyone. This causes difficulty to adjust and similarly, my student has trouble adjusting to the environment in Santa Ana.  

Right now the student that I tutor is behind on the reading level according to the standards for second grade. For my student, this is hard for him because he has to learn a new language and learn the sounds that different letters make and how some letters in different words make different sounds. It is also challenging for him because of his accent. Furthermore, having trouble with adapting to another language is a common conflict that I have seen in immigrants stories. For instance, in the play Poor Yella Rednecks two Vietnamese parents immigrated to the U.S. to have a better future, however, his son has trouble learning English. In order to learn English better, his grandmother could not speak to him in Vietnamese anymore. This creates a conflict because they lose communication. Similarly, my student has difficulty and is hard for him to learn English if it is not implemented at home. However, if it is implemented then there is a risk that he might not be able to speak Spanish anymore since he would be concentrated in learning English. It is a risk that immigrants have to face in order for their children to succeed. In addition, there is a Spanish song called “Corrido de Juanito” that illustrates Juanito’s journey when immigrating to the US and how he can’t understand his children because they do not speak Spanish. These stories prove that there is also a continuous struggle even after immigrating to a new country. 

Sometimes coming to the US, creates a more difficult situation because a child can’t always assimilate right away. Young students have difficulty in school because of the language barrier. Sometimes the hardships immigrants lived within their country are not the only hardships they will encounter after leaving their home. Some could come at a greater cost but in the end, are better for their posterity.

 

Works Cited:

Calibre50, director. Corrido De Juanito. YouTube, YouTube, 23 Aug. 2017, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC7a27zE2fs.

Nguyen, Qui. “Poor Yella Redneck.” 2019, Costa Mesa, South Coast Repertory.

Vo, Linda. “Warfare, Memory and Cambodia.” 7 May 2019, University of California Irvine