“Normal Chinese women's Voices are strong and bossy. We American-Chinese girls had to whisper to make ourselves American-feminine”
In America, adapting and assimilating into the culture changes the way a lot of immigrants speak. It is difficult for a culture that has its set of norms in their country to come and experience a new set of norms in a different country. For example Maxine makes it clear that normal Chinese women's voices are strong and stern however in America she characterizes their voices as soft almost like they are whispering. As a Chinese woman their way of Communicating is different from a American Chinese woman especially if the Chinese American was born in America from Chinese immigrants. Communication is a major factor that hinders a lot of immigrants from completely assimilating into the American culture. In the text, Maxine talks about her experience with a local store clerk who she perceived to be a druggist. In assimilating to the American culture, she tries to speak like an American female, “"Mymotherseztagimmesomecandy," I said to the druggist. Be cute and small. No one hurts the cute and small. "what? Speak up. speak Engrish," he said, big in his white druggist coat. "Tatatagimmesomecandy”.” The focus here is her painful inability to communicate with the store owner as she tries to negotiate for free candy.
I chose to talk about these quotes because it is relatable for most immigrants that try to assimilate into the American culture. I have many Ghanaian born friends who migrated to the United States when they were just kids And still struggle to communicate like an “American”. In different areas of the United States for example New York, the way they speak differs from place to place. By place to place I mean in a work setting, in a school setting, at home and on the streets. Many immigrants come to states that have different accents or say words completely different from the way it's written and this hinders a lot of the immigrants from effectively assimilating into the American culture. They come to take as much opportunity as they can and by doing this the English language is very detrimental to experiencing the full meaning of opportunity. The way Maxine spoke to the store clerk was what she heard from American or other chinese-americans and she changed her normal chinese tone to sound like an American girl.
In America, adapting and assimilating into the culture changes the way a lot of immigrants speak. It is difficult for a culture that has its set of norms in their country to come and experience a new set of norms in a different country. For example Maxine makes it clear that normal Chinese women's voices are strong and stern however in America she characterizes their voices as soft almost like they are whispering. As a Chinese woman their way of Communicating is different from a American Chinese woman especially if the Chinese American was born in America from Chinese immigrants. Communication is a major factor that hinders a lot of immigrants from completely assimilating into the American culture. In the text, Maxine talks about her experience with a local store clerk who she perceived to be a druggist. In assimilating to the American culture, she tries to speak like an American female, “"Mymotherseztagimmesomecandy," I said to the druggist. Be cute and small. No one hurts the cute and small. "what? Speak up. speak Engrish," he said, big in his white druggist coat. "Tatatagimmesomecandy”.” The focus here is her painful inability to communicate with the store owner as she tries to negotiate for free candy.
I chose to talk about these quotes because it is relatable for most immigrants that try to assimilate into the American culture. I have many Ghanaian born friends who migrated to the United States when they were just kids And still struggle to communicate like an “American”. In different areas of the United States for example New York, the way they speak differs from place to place. By place to place I mean in a work setting, in a school setting, at home and on the streets. Many immigrants come to states that have different accents or say words completely different from the way it's written and this hinders a lot of the immigrants from effectively assimilating into the American culture. They come to take as much opportunity as they can and by doing this the English language is very detrimental to experiencing the full meaning of opportunity. The way Maxine spoke to the store clerk was what she heard from American or other chinese-americans and she changed her normal chinese tone to sound like an American girl.
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