As in the year of 2016 presidential campaigns, immigration has been one of the most debated topics across the nation. The media has played an important role in informing us with relevant news, but also pointing out evident acts of racism and hatred incidents towards a minority group in the country. For some politicians, immigrants are just numbers representing a burden to the economy, however, Paul Fleischman invites us to look at the topic from a different perspective. In his book Seedfolks, immigrants are the protagonist and each one have the opportunity to share their story through a series of monologs. Although the characters do a wonderful job giving the reader an insight into their life, the story of Gonzalo, a boy from Guatemala really
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Indeed, language is a powerful tool that not only helps us communicate but also integrate ourselves into society. In the story, Gonzalo argues that “[t]he older [we] are, the younger [we] get when [we] move to the United States” to point out that his dad’s poor fluency in English makes him a kindergartener and Gonzalo becomes a grown up in order to speak on his behalf (Fleischman, 2002, p.17). Although when I arrived here, I had just a basic English level my whole family depended on my for buying food, asking questions, doing phone calls and covering all our necessities. I usually hesitated to speak out because I was very afraid that people would make fun of my broken English. The same happens in the story with Gonzalo’s father will avoid speaking to people for the fear are making mistakes and embarrassing himself. Moreover, when encountering English speakers, Gonzalo’s dad would always “[lower] his eyes and [try] to get by on mumbles and smiles,” I guess smiling is our peculiar way to hide our ignorance and embarrassment (Fleischman, 2002, p.18).This is true for most of the non-English speakers, we tend to make ourselves smaller or just pretend to be invisible. As an English second language learner, I complete understanding the struggles that Gonzalo emphasizes in his …show more content…
But also makes me realized that even though that there are difficult times being persistent and self-motivated makes a great difference whether we succeed in life or not. This story that helps us to appreciate the value of other’s effort, but also teaches empathy and respect towards people from other cultures. Moreover, because I know how hard is for immigrants to assimilate into a new culture, somehow I feel is my duty to make this process smooth as possible for them. Of course, I am not going to save the world, but as a future bilingual teacher, I can make a difference in every one of my students. I am aware that sometimes Hispanics do not push their children to have greater aspiration; they limit their children because they feel limited themselves. I want to motivate my future students to dream big but also empower them with tools to
Indeed, language is a powerful tool that not only helps us communicate but also integrate ourselves into society. In the story, Gonzalo argues that “[t]he older [we] are, the younger [we] get when [we] move to the United States” to point out that his dad’s poor fluency in English makes him a kindergartener and Gonzalo becomes a grown up in order to speak on his behalf (Fleischman, 2002, p.17). Although when I arrived here, I had just a basic English level my whole family depended on my for buying food, asking questions, doing phone calls and covering all our necessities. I usually hesitated to speak out because I was very afraid that people would make fun of my broken English. The same happens in the story with Gonzalo’s father will avoid speaking to people for the fear are making mistakes and embarrassing himself. Moreover, when encountering English speakers, Gonzalo’s dad would always “[lower] his eyes and [try] to get by on mumbles and smiles,” I guess smiling is our peculiar way to hide our ignorance and embarrassment (Fleischman, 2002, p.18).This is true for most of the non-English speakers, we tend to make ourselves smaller or just pretend to be invisible. As an English second language learner, I complete understanding the struggles that Gonzalo emphasizes in his …show more content…
But also makes me realized that even though that there are difficult times being persistent and self-motivated makes a great difference whether we succeed in life or not. This story that helps us to appreciate the value of other’s effort, but also teaches empathy and respect towards people from other cultures. Moreover, because I know how hard is for immigrants to assimilate into a new culture, somehow I feel is my duty to make this process smooth as possible for them. Of course, I am not going to save the world, but as a future bilingual teacher, I can make a difference in every one of my students. I am aware that sometimes Hispanics do not push their children to have greater aspiration; they limit their children because they feel limited themselves. I want to motivate my future students to dream big but also empower them with tools to