Interview on my Mother's Immigration Experience
Hello everyone! For this assignment I interviewed my mother and ask her questions about her immigration experience. To summarized, my mother Carolina Castillo arrive in the United States June 24th, 1992. She is a second generation, and her primary language of communication is Spanish. However, my mother learned how to speak English when she was 19-20 years old. The reason why she couldn’t choose a country to live besides the United States is because she was a minor. Her parents made the choice to come to the United States. However, she doesn’t remember why they made this decision. My mom thinks that they had family members already living in The Bronx, NY. My mom came to the United States with her mother, father, and her two older siblings in a plane. She told me she didn’t face any difficulties coming to the United States because she was a minor. In addition, her parents were the ones doing everything in order for them to get to their destination.
The difficulties that my mother face in the United States was language barrier and adjusting to the environment. When she was talking to me about adjusting to the environment in the United States, she explains about how people act different here compare to her country. In her opinion, some people can be very angry or there is no break in the city. People rushing to get to work, or they are stressed out because they are running late to work. However, in my mom’s hometown La Ceiba, Honduras, it is very relaxed and calm. People aren’t worried as much as in the United States, they were kind and compassionate when she was living there. In connection with the difficulties my mother faced in the United States, she overcomes the language barrier and adjusting to the environment. For language, she tells me how a person expects her to speak English because of the color of her skin and if you don’t know the language people would look at you weird especially in the 90s. When she came here, there wasn’t many people who spoke Spanish at that time, so it was hard for her. She had friends who were from her country that came in the United States. However, they were in the United States longer than her and some of them didn’t even want to talk to her because she couldn’t speak English. They even made fun of her because of that. One memory that stand out for my mom was seeing her own mother for the first time after eight years of separation. She was eight years old when her mother went to the United States. When my mom came to my United States, she experienced acts of kindness. For example, her neighbors were nice to try to help and even talk to her. However, because of the language barrier, it was very difficult to communicate with her neighbors. The reason why is because my mom and her family couldn’t speak English during the time. In addition, her neighbors couldn’t speak or understand Spanish.
My mom left both family members and close friends. However, the toughest issue she had to deal with was losing her aunt after six months of living in the United States. Her aunt was 28 years old when she passed away and my mother couldn’t go back to Honduras because she recently came to this country. In addition, it was difficult to leave people behind because she felt like she left her childhood, friends, family members, and her home. My mom's hope was to see her mother again after eight years and she wasn’t worried about herself or her kids because she is a Christian woman. She believes and have faith that God is always in control. Finally, she sees herself as an American now because she got accustomed to living here.
Honestly, I learn about the basic information of how my mother arrive to the United States. However, I didn’t know about the issues that she faced coming to the United States when it comes to language barrier and able to adjust to the environment. I can say that hearing my mom's story have some impact on me. Even though I am a citizen living in the United States, I can connect with my mom when it comes to the language barrier. I didn’t learn Spanish until I was middle school. Then, I continue to pursue my career in interpreter/translation in LaGuardia Community College. Once I went to Hunter College, I got insecure when I started to speak the Spanish language mostly because I got tired of certain people trying to correct me. Also, when I was speaking Spanish to my grandmother, she was even correcting me and even questioning my career choice. So, I decided to not speak Spanish even though it wasn’t a good option. The reason why I say this is because now when I speak the language it has gotten worst so it's difficult to speak to my grandmother despite her understanding what I am trying to say. As for adjusting to the environment, I can say that I can also connect with my mother. One example that I can give is going to a new school. During my high school years, I was transferring from one school to another, so it was difficult for me to adjust to all these new schools because it's a different environment filled with new teachers and students.
My mother’s immigration experience and my own experience is like the previous waves of immigration. According to the article “Diversity in Action: Irish and German Immigrants in a Growing City”, the author says that there were thirty-two New York churches. Eight were German speaking, one was French Speaking, and twenty-three were English speaking. In my opinion, the reason why I used this as an example is because Irish people were also dealing with issues when it comes to language. Most of the churches were English speaking and barely their own language so I know it must be difficult to communicate or understand. Another idea that I can connect with my mother’s immigration is how she came to the United States at a young age. In all the previous waves of immigration, there were some immigrants that came to the United States at a young age. For example, in the documentary called Asian Americans, the narrator said that most of these immigrants came to the United States because they wanted a better life for themselves especially looking for better job opportunities and escaping from poverty. In connection to my mom’s experience, she didn’t know the reason why she came to the United States. However, I believe that besides knowing people in the borough, but also, they wanted to live a better life for themselves.
Overall, I can say that when many immigrants arrive in the United States, they have faced discrimination, economic problems, racial prejudice, religious difficulties, language difficulties, and educational challenges. As I read different articles, watch documentaries, and joining each lecture from zoom I realized that immigrants went through many obstacles and struggles coming to the United States and even settling in the environment. In connection to my mother’s immigration experience, she has dealt with adjusting to the environment, language, and educational difficulties in high school and college. However, she didn’t let that ruin her goal which is to learn English and be able to teach the language to me and my two other siblings.
The difficulties that my mother face in the United States was language barrier and adjusting to the environment. When she was talking to me about adjusting to the environment in the United States, she explains about how people act different here compare to her country. In her opinion, some people can be very angry or there is no break in the city. People rushing to get to work, or they are stressed out because they are running late to work. However, in my mom’s hometown La Ceiba, Honduras, it is very relaxed and calm. People aren’t worried as much as in the United States, they were kind and compassionate when she was living there. In connection with the difficulties my mother faced in the United States, she overcomes the language barrier and adjusting to the environment. For language, she tells me how a person expects her to speak English because of the color of her skin and if you don’t know the language people would look at you weird especially in the 90s. When she came here, there wasn’t many people who spoke Spanish at that time, so it was hard for her. She had friends who were from her country that came in the United States. However, they were in the United States longer than her and some of them didn’t even want to talk to her because she couldn’t speak English. They even made fun of her because of that. One memory that stand out for my mom was seeing her own mother for the first time after eight years of separation. She was eight years old when her mother went to the United States. When my mom came to my United States, she experienced acts of kindness. For example, her neighbors were nice to try to help and even talk to her. However, because of the language barrier, it was very difficult to communicate with her neighbors. The reason why is because my mom and her family couldn’t speak English during the time. In addition, her neighbors couldn’t speak or understand Spanish.
My mom left both family members and close friends. However, the toughest issue she had to deal with was losing her aunt after six months of living in the United States. Her aunt was 28 years old when she passed away and my mother couldn’t go back to Honduras because she recently came to this country. In addition, it was difficult to leave people behind because she felt like she left her childhood, friends, family members, and her home. My mom's hope was to see her mother again after eight years and she wasn’t worried about herself or her kids because she is a Christian woman. She believes and have faith that God is always in control. Finally, she sees herself as an American now because she got accustomed to living here.
Honestly, I learn about the basic information of how my mother arrive to the United States. However, I didn’t know about the issues that she faced coming to the United States when it comes to language barrier and able to adjust to the environment. I can say that hearing my mom's story have some impact on me. Even though I am a citizen living in the United States, I can connect with my mom when it comes to the language barrier. I didn’t learn Spanish until I was middle school. Then, I continue to pursue my career in interpreter/translation in LaGuardia Community College. Once I went to Hunter College, I got insecure when I started to speak the Spanish language mostly because I got tired of certain people trying to correct me. Also, when I was speaking Spanish to my grandmother, she was even correcting me and even questioning my career choice. So, I decided to not speak Spanish even though it wasn’t a good option. The reason why I say this is because now when I speak the language it has gotten worst so it's difficult to speak to my grandmother despite her understanding what I am trying to say. As for adjusting to the environment, I can say that I can also connect with my mother. One example that I can give is going to a new school. During my high school years, I was transferring from one school to another, so it was difficult for me to adjust to all these new schools because it's a different environment filled with new teachers and students.
My mother’s immigration experience and my own experience is like the previous waves of immigration. According to the article “Diversity in Action: Irish and German Immigrants in a Growing City”, the author says that there were thirty-two New York churches. Eight were German speaking, one was French Speaking, and twenty-three were English speaking. In my opinion, the reason why I used this as an example is because Irish people were also dealing with issues when it comes to language. Most of the churches were English speaking and barely their own language so I know it must be difficult to communicate or understand. Another idea that I can connect with my mother’s immigration is how she came to the United States at a young age. In all the previous waves of immigration, there were some immigrants that came to the United States at a young age. For example, in the documentary called Asian Americans, the narrator said that most of these immigrants came to the United States because they wanted a better life for themselves especially looking for better job opportunities and escaping from poverty. In connection to my mom’s experience, she didn’t know the reason why she came to the United States. However, I believe that besides knowing people in the borough, but also, they wanted to live a better life for themselves.
Overall, I can say that when many immigrants arrive in the United States, they have faced discrimination, economic problems, racial prejudice, religious difficulties, language difficulties, and educational challenges. As I read different articles, watch documentaries, and joining each lecture from zoom I realized that immigrants went through many obstacles and struggles coming to the United States and even settling in the environment. In connection to my mother’s immigration experience, she has dealt with adjusting to the environment, language, and educational difficulties in high school and college. However, she didn’t let that ruin her goal which is to learn English and be able to teach the language to me and my two other siblings.
I found your mother's story to be very relatable as my parents and I are both first-generation immigrants. I immigrated to the U.S. from China at a very young age. Like your mother, I experienced a language barrier. Because of that, I had trouble paying attention in school and making new friends. I was fortunate that I started learning English at a young age and got to pick up the language rather quickly, but my parents had a much more difficult time. They still struggle with the language and it causes them a lot of inconvenience. I am so glad to read that your mother was able to overcome the challenges and adapt to the life here. It was a very inspiring story, while capturing the common setbacks faced by immigrants. Thank you so much for sharing this amazing story!
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