Poems about #13 lives of multilingual children in public #12 school

Luz Ortega

Class: EDBL 603

Professor: Dr. Zahra Saleh-Johnson

Poems about # 13 lives of multilingual children in public #12 school. Week 12 Reflection

The story The Girl Who Would Sing by Kit Yuen Quan explained how difficult her life was as a Chinese immigrant. She was misunderstood not only for being an immigrant, but for being a woman as well.

Many immigrants are able to relate to Kit Yuen Quan’s story for many reasons. One being that although many know the English language, they tend to underestimate themselves because they don’t feel confident enough to express themselves freely. There is a fear of being judged incorrectly, being assumed that since they look different (not American) then they must not be able to comprehend English.

People have different methods of learning and how to express themselves, but that doesn’t mean that they feel courageous enough to say what they feel so they suppress their true emotions. The fear of making mistakes, being misunderstood or even under appreciated will at times make an immigrant feel unworthy and not allow them to achieve their goals.

All immigrants have a vast amount of cultural information that was obtained from past generations and continuously passed on. However, most of the time, the school system won’t support the immigrant students and family’s culture. They don’t provide the necessary tools that are required for the students to succeed in the community and with their education.

Prospectus by Joe Nieto, a poem that described the real living conditions that the writer experienced on the reservation. He described the trials and tribulations that he went through as a child. He spoke about his house that was made of adobe (made of mudbrick) and did not have running water. He also told about not having food and sleeping on the floor covering him self with sheepskin.

However, he was hoping that one day he could speak English (Joe Nieto). Just like the writer, many immigrants have been through hardship but they set goals in their lives that keep them encouraged and striving for that one day when they will have the right education and a better life as well.

The poem “No Question Asked” by Amand Gamet Ruffo, is another story that described how an immigrant who come to a country with different languages and cultures.  When he/she is trying to communicate with other people, they do not acknowledge him/her.  To avoid being in an uncomfortable situation some bilingual individuals choose to be muted, don’t complain, don’t ask questions, but as human he/she have the right to express him/herself.         

Learning Silence by Mazziotti Guilan, a poem that has some similarities as the story of Kit Yuen Quan. In both stories the writers were ignored by the teachers either because of their language variances or just because they look different from the others. In this poem the writer talked about her experience sitting in classroom and trying to be as quite as possible, so the teacher does not see her and not give her an ugly look. She also described reading a “Dick and Jane” book that described the world so perfect so far away of the reality that many bilingual students have been through for years and they still struggling to get the tool and support that is necessary to get their education.

        English con Salsa by Gina Valdes,  “English con Salsa” is a span-English poem that described the ways of many immigrants communicates in many Hispanic (Latino) communities. This poem talked about our culture and how we use non-standard English to express ourselves. How we describe the food we eat even though many had different names for it depending on where you are from, but it has the same meaning. Over all, the most important value is what each community brings to keep them together and move on in their lives.

Speaking Standard English, it is not the priority in some communities, what matter is to survive. The person who sells food in the Conner store that learns the name of the products in English just to satisfy the clientele.

All immigrants have so much to offer and we can learn so much from each other, it does not matter what we look like or sound like, we are all humans and that is what matters.