WHAT LANGUAGE DO YOU SPEAK ?
There are 6,500 languages spoken in the world today. Every language is unique and beautiful in it's own way. However lately it seems like that number is decreasing and more people start choosing to speak just one language - English. It is so scary to imagine that in a few years there could be only one or two languages dominating the world. People must take pride in their native languages and stick to their own beautiful and unique cultures.
As an immigrant in America, adapting to the culture, language and society is one of the toughest tasks to complete. It is very difficult for those who are not familiar with this struggle to forget about your people, country, and language and move on towards what many might think is a “brighter future.” As Nayyirah Waheed says: “You broke the ocean in half, to be here. Only to meet nothing that wants you.” For many of you, this quote will be just words thrown out in the wind, but for others, these words will bring tears to your eyes. Why? The detailed answer to that will be found in my research.
To get adjusted to a new culture takes years and sometimes it does not even happen until you die. Many immigrants have problems with the language as their biggest adjustment. Many can’t even obtain citizenship for this country because they cannot pass a written or spoken test. Most times, they get laughed at for their accent or for a specific word that was pronounced in a way that “true Americas” would not say.
Language discrimination is a big issue in this country, especially since there are 571 million immigrants, of which 11 million which are illegal. But to think more critically about this issue, this country doesn't even have the right to point and laugh at immigrants, because it was created by colonists and refugees. While others think that language discrimination is not big deal, I will prove them wrong.
Picture # 1 Credits: http://rollback.typepad.com/campaign/2008/03/senate-guts-eeo.html
Picture # 2 Credits : http://www.peter-ould.net/2013/08/15/chosen-identity/
There are 6,500 languages spoken in the world today. Every language is unique and beautiful in it's own way. However lately it seems like that number is decreasing and more people start choosing to speak just one language - English. It is so scary to imagine that in a few years there could be only one or two languages dominating the world. People must take pride in their native languages and stick to their own beautiful and unique cultures.
As an immigrant in America, adapting to the culture, language and society is one of the toughest tasks to complete. It is very difficult for those who are not familiar with this struggle to forget about your people, country, and language and move on towards what many might think is a “brighter future.” As Nayyirah Waheed says: “You broke the ocean in half, to be here. Only to meet nothing that wants you.” For many of you, this quote will be just words thrown out in the wind, but for others, these words will bring tears to your eyes. Why? The detailed answer to that will be found in my research.
To get adjusted to a new culture takes years and sometimes it does not even happen until you die. Many immigrants have problems with the language as their biggest adjustment. Many can’t even obtain citizenship for this country because they cannot pass a written or spoken test. Most times, they get laughed at for their accent or for a specific word that was pronounced in a way that “true Americas” would not say.
Language discrimination is a big issue in this country, especially since there are 571 million immigrants, of which 11 million which are illegal. But to think more critically about this issue, this country doesn't even have the right to point and laugh at immigrants, because it was created by colonists and refugees. While others think that language discrimination is not big deal, I will prove them wrong.
Picture # 1 Credits: http://rollback.typepad.com/campaign/2008/03/senate-guts-eeo.html
Picture # 2 Credits : http://www.peter-ould.net/2013/08/15/chosen-identity/