Sunday, November 13, 2011

Do you think language unites or divides us?

   I think that language unites the Unites States. It is a big country with diversity of traditions, cultures, languages, and races, so it is necesary that everyone learns to live in peace and it pushes people to get to know the diversity of the world.
     It is true that people make groups and live together with people of the same language. An example is Chicago, where Chinese, Indian, and Mexican people live together in neighborhoods with the same language, but they are open to show their culture and teach it to others. Also, it is true that many people, especially children of immigrants, speak another language besides English, but it is good because they have more options to communicate and teach a new language to more people who are interested in learning new languages and cultures.
     My experience in college explains my thesis. I have classmates from different countries, and of course different languages, but it does not divide us. On the contrary it unites us. I speak two languages, Spanish and English, and I am learning the U.S. culture, but I am very interested in the culture and language of my classmates. For example, Fardosa, who is from Somalia is my reading classmate. We are teaching each other about our culture, traditions, and language all the time, and it is really nice. I am very sure that in the same way my other classmates enjoy meeting new people and learning about language and traditions.
     This is an example that everyone enjoys learning something new, so I think that language in the United States is and will unite people from different countries.
I want to show a funny video about learn a new language:

Thursday, November 3, 2011

My Immigration experiences.

          I am from Ecuador. I arrived to the Unites States in April 2009. I have never though come to here, but I decided to come because my wife is from here. I had a good job in my country as Radar Technician, but I was traviling all the time. When I decided come to come to the United States, I went to the American Consulate to get my visa but they denied me it. After that, my wife applied to marriage visa, and we had to showed enough evidence of our relationship like pictures, letters, and also email from us. This was really unconfortable to us because these were private things.
          When I arrived to the United States, we had to get married in two months. My parents did not come because they did not have documents to travel, so I did not have relatives in my wedding. I had to send again documents of our marriage to the American Consulate, and I had to wait almost seven months to get my Green Card.
          Those months were really hard for me because I could not get a job, but I was studying English in a Community Center. When I finally I got my Green Card I could get a job, the English classes that I took were really helpful to my job. The English was a big problem for me because I did not have really good inerviews, and it was really frustrating. Sometimes I thought it was a bad idea to come to the United States because it was really different to my country,  but I had to accept my new life.
          My life is really different now that I can speak moderate English. I had a good full time job, beautiful wife, and my studies in college. I hope that in two years get my citizenship, and I hope my parents can come to visit my wife's family and me.
          Today I laugh at my arrival in the United States. I remember when I arrived to Atlanta Airport, and I missed my fly connection to Chicago because I was wainting in immigration office for long time. When I finished in that office, I realized that my frustration had only just begun. I was looking for my bags, but I could not read the signals in the airport. I was trying to found some Spanish speaker, and I was looking for Latin faces. I could do not believe it, but no one could speak Spanish fluent. I found some help, but that guy told me that I had to took a train to another station, and that was all. I found my gate finally, but I had to call my wife to said that I will arrive late and my frustration began again. I was trying use the public phone, but I did not know use it. Somebody saw my frustration, and she offered her help. Because my English was horrible, I just showed my paper with a number on it and she gave her cell phone. I called my wife, and I finally was quiet.  My lack of knowledge about traditions and my very limited knowledge of the English language caused me frustation. The traditions are really different from my country, but I am learning every day the new traditions from here. I like this country because I have contact with different people around the world, and many languages in the same place.