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Rich Belias
Dr. Grabriela Rios
ENC1102
June 11, 2014
The Challenge for Immigrants in the U.S.: How Places Influence Language and Behavior
in the United States
Language is a powerful way we humans communicate with each other. To say
that immigrants in the United States struggles a lot just to learn the language of this
country, which is English, would be an understatement. Now-a-days, immigrants need to
learn the English language to do anything legal in this country. Using the following six
sources I will make my topic question and answer clear in explaining and answering the
primary research question which is how places influence language and behavior of
immigrants in the United states ( specifically, Haitian immigrants). These sources work
together to provide information that prove that many different places influence
immigrants language and behavior in the U.S. The first set of sources (Ceptus and Julal)
explains how language affects Haitian immigrants, in school and at work in the U.S. the
second set of sources (Burford, Stimson) tells us more about how places influence family
language who comes to the U.S from Jamaica to speak good English, and how business
influence immigrants language. The last set of sources (Sandra and Buteau) tells us how
important it is to be billangual and how language can connect us people in general.
Burford, Lorrimer. Telling stories to preserve the culture. Ethnic NewsWatch 17.3 (2006): 17.
ProQuest. Web. 10 June 2014.
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Author Lorrimer Burford, starts the article by telling us it does not matter how easy
things get for an average immigrants from the Caribbean, there are times when they will
always think back about home, language, cultural events, etc. The authors wife is upset
with him because he wants to speak the Jamaican language known as patois. She
always wanted him her kids to speak good English and thats one of the reason why they
came in the U.S. the author stated that "It seemed like us Jamaicans carried our customs
and lifestyle with us wherever we went." The author wants us to know that when
Jamaican immigrant come here they dont change a bit. They live, eat, act, party, and
speak like they were in their native country. The authors wife wanted her family to
simply speak proper English instead of patois.
I agree with the author because I have seen that with Jamaican who lives in Fort
Lauderdale. Specifically when they are speaking, they speak patois. I also want to say
that it is not only with Jamaican, it is also with Hispanic, Haitian, etc. For example when
I go down to Miami to see some of my relatives, it feel like I am in Haiti because all the
shops and restaurants have Haitians name and all the customers are mostly Haitians. It is
the same thing for Hispanics also. The main reason why immigrants group together all
the time is mostly because of the language that they speak, especially Haitian. It is
important for us to see how language can bring everyone together.
Buteau (Brother Tob), Frre. Exclusive interview with Professor Margarita Mooney. Ethnic
NewsWatch 41.24 (2010): 4-8. ProQuest. Web. 11 June 2014.
The author of this article, Frre Buteau, provides a very good interview with an assistant
professor in the department of sociology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel
Hill and a Faculty fellow of its Carolina Population Center about Haitian immigrant.
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Professor Margarita studies the Haitian population including the Haitians immigrants in
Miami. She even wrote a book about Haiti. I pick this article because it caught my
attention and answer my topic question when the author ask Professor Margarita How
much time did you need to master that new language and speak it as beautifully as you
do?(par. 8). She answered I believe language is a key to culture, so for me to
understand Haitian culture, I needed to learn Creole. I began studying French in 1999,
first at Princeton and then in France. In 2001, I started learning Creole at the Haitian
Summer Institute at Florida International University. Then I continued to tutor myself
using textbooks and CDs. I traveled to Haiti in 2001 and 2002, which allowed me to
practice the language. (par. 9)
I like her answer because that was my thought when I first got in the United States. My
main goal was to learn the language first and everything else will be easy for me to
understand because without knowing the language you will never be able to do anything.
Like professor Margarita said language is the key to a culture. (par. 9). The main point
of this argument is that if you want to fit in in a culture or to understand a culture you
have to start with the language. After you are comfortable with the language, then you
can try to fit in or understand that culture. Just like professor Margarita did for Haiti, she
learned creole which is the main language Haitians speak, and then she went and
interview Haitian immigrants to understand the Haitian culture so she can write a book
about the Haitian culture. As an immigrant like myself, places will always influence my
language and behavior. I think prof. Margarita made an important point when she said
she went to Haiti and people were happy to talk to her because they were able to
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communicate with her in Creole. The fact is that she learn the language and now the
Haitians treat her like she was one of them.
Ceptus, Barbara. Growing up Haitian, growing up black. Ethnic NewsWatch 8.3 (2005): 31.
ProQuest. Web. 10 June 2014.
Barbara Ceptus tells us how she made a decision to get a Ph. D. in cultural studies so she
could teach and write about the African diaspora and race relationship in the U.S. based
on her childhood experience about African American and Haitians. The article said they
identify the immigrant Haitians as Haitian, not as black. (par. 4). This quote is important
for telling us about her point because her family came from another country, they cannot
speak English well, that make them Haitian, not black. Blacks speak English very well.
Barbara was raised in a Haitian household, which made her Haitian instead of black in
her familys eyes. They dont want to be called black. Barbara had a different experience
as she was growing up. She came to understand that she is Haitian but at the same time
she is also black to the people who actually call themselves Black because she speaks
English just like them. For example, for people at her school, she was black. To answer
my topic question with this article is that she left Boston where her family lived to go to
California to school. There she only spoke English for a very long time and that affect her
ability to speak creole which is the main language she communicate with her family.
After a long time she went back to Boston to see her family but she could not
communicate with her grandmother who she cares about because Barbara could not speak
creole and her grandmother knew very little English. She said I pulled together bits and
pieces of my native tongue to come up with an explanation to tell my grandmother about
my degree. The school, she went to, influenced her language and behavior which made
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her only speak English and not being able to speak creole, and the U.S influenced her
grandmothers language because she cant communicate in English.
This article is useful to answer my research question because it tells us how language can
sometime prevent people from being able to relate to even their own family in
intergenerational immigrant homes. I like this article because it relates to my life. My
grandmother came in the U.S back in the 1980s and she is the same way. She wasnt
lucky enough to go to school as a child and when she came in the U.S she could not do
anything because she was an illegal immigrant and she could not read. Until today she
speaks and understand very little English. The U.S influences her language and behavior
because she cannot do anything in the U.S without someones help. Her language and
behaviors are limited in the U.S. She moved back to Haiti where her behavior and her
language is not limited recently. To relate this situation above with language is that
language can prevent folks from even being able to relate to their family in
intergenerational immigrants home.
Gardner, Sandra. The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. Ethnic NewsWatch 14.20 (2004):
14. ProQuest. Web. 11 June 2014.
Sandra Gardner tries to make us understands how it benefits immigrants when they can
speak their native language and English well. The older you come in the U.S the harder it
is for you to speak English and get an education. The author says that Hispanic
immigrants threaten to divide the U.S into two cultures, and two language. Sandra stated
these folks dont want to learn English. The author thinks if you are bilingual you will
seize better opportunities.
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I agree with the author and she informs us about Hispanics immigrants. To answer my
research question with this article, the author wants us to know how important it is to
learn English in the U.S. When immigrants cant speak English in the U.S everywhere
they go their language will be influence by that place they are at. On that matter, the
author quoted in this country, a lot of importance is given to the way you look and
sound. (par.15). in other words, wherever an immigrant goes in this country, it will
influence you by the way you speak English. Overall the author makes an important point
when she explains the importance of language in this country and how places will
influence immigrants language, specifically Hispanic immigrants.
Julal, Beverly, et al. Immigrants get more than just a welcome. Ethnic NewsWatch 7.19
(2008): 6c. ProQuest. Web. 10 June 2014.
This article by Julal Berverly informs us about a program that they have to help
immigrants in the U.S. this program is called welcoming centers which is located in
Pennsylvania. The purpose of this program is to help new immigrants understand the
American system and find jobs that are related to the immigrants skill levels. Mostly
they help immigrants from the Caribbean. Even English is the first language for many
nations in the Caribbean but everything here in America is different, even the language.
The author said for speaking with a foreign accent we were alienated from the other
students. (par. 9) She continued lots of people made fun of our differences. (par. 9)
I agree with this article because I experienced this situation when I first moved to
America at school. I remember when my classmates were laughing at me in my health
class because I said something that my teacher had no idea about. I had to tell one of my
Haitian classmate to translate for me. All this was the influence of language by places
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because I could do and say anything I wanted to in my ESOL class. Nobody would laugh
at me because all of us are in there to learn English. It would be very good to have one of
the welcoming centers all over the U.S especially Fort Lauderdale and Miami where there
is a lot of immigrants.
Stimson, Brian. Workplace challenges persist for African immigrants. Ethnic NewsWatch
15.33 (2008): 14-33. ProQuest. Web. 11 June 2014.
Brian Stimsons article is about how workplace challenges African immigrants. Most of
the time, they thought only Hispanic immigrants experience the challenges when
adapting to a foreign culture. The author said many of the problems facing Africans are
similar to those facing Hispanics. For example, language barriers, different work
customs, lack of formal education and a system that doesn't recognize much of the skilled
training obtained in African countries. (par. 4). In sum the author is trying to say that
African immigrants struggle to adapt to a new culture just like Hispanic immigrants.
I agree with the author, specifically when he says African immigrants struggle to learn
new language. I was in school with a lot of Hispanic student when I first move in the
United States. We were struggling to speak English exactly the same way. Everyone had
to use a dictionary to translate English sentences in our native languages. What I am
trying to say is that the U.S. influence the language of all kind of immigrant, who do not
speak English in their country, the exact same way. Every immigrants will be challenge
either at school, work, church, mall to learn the new language. Overall the author is right
when he said African immigrants and refugees are a diverse group of people who
struggle to learn new languages, new customs and new ways of earning a living. (par. 4)
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