Eastern European Immigrant Families by Mihaela Robila

Author:Mihaela Robila [Robila, Mihaela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Emigration & Immigration, Ethnic Studies, General, Sociology, Marriage & Family
ISBN: 9781135196363
Google: NZVMD41LnXgC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-05-13T04:46:32+00:00

Language Use

Among the most important factors in keeping one's cultural background is knowing and using the language. “I try to keep our native language. I speak Armenian at home. I keep the Armenian cuisine, the kitchen. I always try to make Armenian dishes. We use different countries’ dishes that are delicious but we are used to eating our food and we like that” [W, 3]. “I would definitely teach my kids how to speak Armenian” [W, 7]. “I want to keep her Armenian, I want her to know her culture, her language that's the reason I am sending her to Armenian school” [W, 9]. “Yes I will make them speak Armenian and I will make sure they never forget it.” [M, 11]. “Yes, I would like her to speak our language” [M, 10]. “The language is very important thing to stay with your culture. We try to teach them to speak Armenian at home. With the language comes the culture and we try to keep the Armenian form in them” [M, 18]. “They would learn Armenian language and attend the Armenian school which we have on Sundays” [M, 24].

Similarly, Romanian parents share their desire that children would speak Romanian: “The most important things is that we speak with the child (who is four years old) only in Romanian” [W, 1]. “Since we talk Romanian in the house with the children I would say we keep our ethnic identity” [W, 2]. “We have a two-year-old son that was born here. At home we speak mostly Romanian so this is what he now understands the best, so when we are out, sometimes he does not understand the people that are talking to him. However, we are trying to teach him English at the same time. Being an immigrant allows us to take from both cultures when deciding what is best for him. Here, we benefit from the U.S. child raising models by engaging him in various activities (such as library classes, child programs, etc)” [M, 29]. “We use the Internet to listen the news from the country [Romania]” [M, 8]. “With regards to traditions we keep all of the Romanian traditions and transmit to our children. We speak only Romanian with them for the moment, because we want at least to maintain the language” [M, 18]. Sometimes, this desire to develop cultural identity was challenged by pressures determined by the immigrant status. In few cases, for younger children, who spoke primarily their native language might be a little difficult as they enter school and are expected to speak English. A mother reports that “Being a Romanian immigrant in U.S. it's a little bit difficult. The kids hear a different language than it's spoken at home and it's sometimes hard. In the beginning at school the kids are a little behind and we have to work harder to bring them at the same level with the other children” [W, 2] or “We speak Romanian in the house and we teach them both languages, Romanian and English.

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