Hmong Language Barriers

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman introduces the reader to the Hmong culture and to the Lee’s family experience with western medicine. Throughout the book it talks of the past interactions of the Hmong and Americans, showing reasoning why the Hmong already mistrust Americans and western medicine. Following World War II, the Hmong culture was rejected and ridiculed by the Chinese for not assimilating with their culture, causing many to move to the U.S. Upon arrival, they were still ridiculed, harassed, and violated. In the Hmong’s eyes, they deserved respect and welfare for their sacrifices in the war.

In addition, Ryan Padgett (2012) found that first generation student seems to be more unprepared to interact with faculty upon entering college than students whose parents went to college (p.261). The disadvantage a first-generation student faces upon entering college is due to the lack of contact with individuals who fall outside their parent’s social

This shows that Latino males are falling behind on the scale in attending higher education compared to other ethnic groups. Even though the number of Latinos in general that are attending college is constant and rising, the presence of Latino males compared to females is still very low. To make it even worse, Latino males have the lowest enrollment and completion rates of any subgroup. Latina females are on the rise in higher education while Latino males are having trouble to stay on the map. This confuses me because how could it be that Latinos in general are growing in population at universities yet the presence of Latino males is quite low.

According to a Pew Research Center survey “among Hispanics ages 25 to 29, just 15% of Hispanics had a bachelor’s degree in 2013” (Krogstad). This is worrying; it is great to analyze the lack of Hispanics higher education in the United States and the State of Kansas something that one cares about by using statistics and information about the racial gap in educational attainment that explains the lower rates in Hispanics. Hispanics lowest rates of college degree attainment are a result of immigration growth, parental lower incomes, family socioeconomic status, family cultural background, and poor parental involvement. One of the causes for the low rate of educated Hispanics is the Central American immigration population continued grow. The

This growth has led Latinos to become one of the “largest” racial/ ethnic groups in American Higher Education: 55 million strong, as estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2014. Yet, they are one of the least educated and the least represented ethnic groups in educational institutions. However, they are the least studied and represented ethnic groups in educational institutions. The Latino representation in educational institutions are lower compared to other ethnic minorities.

Asian Americans include persons that come to the United States from a variety of countries in Asia and the Indian subcontinent (McNamara & Burns, 2009). Although the do share similar physical features, each subgroup has its own history, customs, and culture (McNamara & Burns, 2009). There are many different perceptions of Asian Americans in general. One is that they have overcome barriers and discrimination to be successful and achieve the ‘American Dream’ (McNamara & Burns, 2009). One reason for this I believe is that the majority of Asian Americans come to the United States with a dream and a goal to be successful.

Being born and raised in a culture and then uprooting your life to pursue opportunities in a different culture can be hard in three ways. First, speaking a foreign language and then coming to America where majority of the people speak English can be difficult to adapt to. When a person has grown accustomed to speaking their native language, it can be problematic to have to pick up an entire new language. Possibilities can be limited because of the restrictions on one’s ability to communicate with other. Second, if a teenager comes to America from a foreign country they will have to take on responsibilities that they normally would not.

ThinkImpact.com. (2022, July 13). https://www.thinkimpact.com/number-of-schools-in-the-us/#:~:text=Number%20of%20Schools%20in%20the%20US,-MENTIONS%20IN%20THE&text=Statistics%20reveal%20that%20the%20United,high%20schools%2C%2023900%20Secondary%20Schools Richwine, J. (2017, June 21). Immigrant literacy. CIS.org.

As I listened to the Riverbend scenario I thought of my own cultural competence and how at one time I knew very little of the Hmong culture. Working in a city where Asians make up only 3% of the population, this is a population I knew little about. I have learned that most Hmong are from the mountainous region of Laos, and are granted preferred refugee status by the U.S. (Cobb, 2010). From 2000 to 2010 the number of Hmong grew 40%, there are currently 260,073 Hmong people living primarily in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Even though the Hmong people seem to be prospering after thirty years in the U.S., there are still challenges with communication, understanding of cultural beliefs, and use of traditional medical practices (United States Census Bureau, 2013)

Martha Peraza SOC 3340 Inequality in Education California State University, Bakersfield Abstract In the United States, there exists a gap in equality for different demographics of students. The factors contributing to educational disadvantages include socioeconomic struggles, gender of students, language or culture, and particularly for the scope of this paper, race.

But even when they didn’t learn English themselves, their children grew up speaking it. Thousands of first-generation Americans still strive to learn English, but others face reduced educational and career opportunities because they have not mastered this basic skill they need to get ahead. According to the 1990 census, 40 percent of the Hispanics born in the United States do not graduate from high school, and the Department of Education says that a lack of proficiency in English is an important factor in the drop-out rate. People and agencies that favor providing services only in foreign languages want to help people who do not speak English, but they may be doing these people a disservice by condemning them to a linguistic ghetto from which they cannot easily escape.

Therefore, Asian American students are under pressure which is a serious problem in every

For Chin community’s children, many people came to the United States at a young age that they barely know anything about their culture. It was hard for them to live in a mix-cultures because they are comfortable with the American culture, yet they also acquire to live with their parents’ culture. However, inside of their household, their parents taught them their culture’s tradition and show them certain part of the tradition. Those lessons make kids know about their own culture and be able to understand in many ways including language barrier that they have. Thous, a few children who did not learn their native culture also bear a hard time dealing with all these native-new-cultures things.

Among 20 to 22 years old, Asian and Whites females are more likely to have had some post- secondary education than their male

Although the Hmong family is presented from the very begging of being native speakers of their language, second and third generation members would also be expected to expected to become know English. Throughout the plot Walt, who had felt hostility for this nation for so many years is capable of adapting and even comes to see them as more of a family than his real one. By the end of the story Walt Kowalski is portrayed as being a hero. What is interesting about Walt is that he considers himself a full-fledged American.