Immigration and the English Language

2009-03-11T14:43:00.002-05:00

Sunny Seo

2009-03-11T14:42:00.002-05:00

Jin Soo Kim

After interviews in China Town and North End

2009-03-11T14:34:00.005-05:00

Our group went out to find out about “can immigrants live without having learned English?” In order to do this, we visited the North End (Italy Town) and Chinatown. We started asking some random people either foreigners or natives the question whether it is necessary to learn English. In the North End, many people seemed to look like Italians, but many of them were, in fact, American. Also, many of them were bilingual, using both English and Italian. However, the restaurants and grocery stores sold many Italian-originated items. The menus were written in Italian and there were various flags such as Italian, American, and Irish flags. In the North End, we realized that it was almost impossible to live in the North End with only speaking Italian.

In Chinatown, most of the people I saw were Chinese. When I stood up to random people and asked some questions, they were not able to speak English. I finally met young students who spoke English. It was not easy to find who spoke English fluently. It is not necessary for Chinese to learn English to live in the U.S.

On the first day of the Junior Urban Adventure, we asked random people in the Quincy Market whether it was necessary for immigrants to learn and speak English when coming to the United States. Before doing the survey, we believed that it was not really necessary for immigrants to know English, because they could live in Italian or China towns by using native languages. Based on the results from the survey, our perspectives changed to that it is necessary for immigrants to learn English to live in the United States. On the second day, our group went to interview immigrants from foreign countries into the United States to have more information of immigration and learned their experience as immigrants.
We interviewed Mr. Quintero, who came to the United States in the middle age to have more opportunities in finding jobs and better financial state. He strongly believed that learning and speaking English is required for immigrants as well as adopting into different culture and manner. He said that he put a lot of effort to learn English; he repeated what actors said when watching TV.
Ted David Roy immigrated to the United States from Bulgaria in the early age. Not only did he believe that learning English is essential for immigrants, but he also thought that knowing appropriate knowledge for culture and blending into American society are significant for them. Immigrants who speak English fluently can communicate better, and knowing culture helps connection with people in the new environment.
Mr. Quintero and Ted believed that having two different backgrounds established advantage in their occupation and payment, because they became more qualified. Also after learning a new language, it becomes easier for them to learn other languages. We could conclude that learning American language and culture is necessary for immigrants to live in the United States, and efforts and pain they experienced would pay off later.

First day, we went to Quincy market to gather people’s opinions about immigrants in the U.S. We asked to people do you think it is necessary for immigrants who came to the U.S to learn English. We separated into three groups and had interview with people in the Quincy market.
Most people thought immigrants who wanted to live in the U.S have to speak English fluently. They said, English is necessary for handling official problems, and conversation with other Americans. They believed that learning language is the best way to assimilate into the American society. However, some people said no. They thought if immigrants would live in the area where they can use their language.
People, who we met in the Quincy Market, had many opinions about the immigrants Also we could find many immigrants who came from many other countries, China, Argentina, and Europe. They came to the U.S for job, and studying. I am the foreign student who came to the U.S for studying. I also had many opinions about immigrants in the U.S. However, this experience in the Quincy market made my idea to expand.

-By David Kim, Ji Woong Han, Hwa Yeon Oh and Seo Joon Yoon -

Immigrants, immigrants everywhere!

2009-03-11T13:01:00.007-05:00

Yesterday our JUA group traversed the city in search of an answer to our essential question: Must immigrants learn English?

In order to do so we took on the task of a linguistic scavenger hunt in the North End and Chinatown. Student were asked to find the following:

What language are the street signs?
What flags do you see?
How do you say “language” in the target language?
Find someone that is from Italy or China.
Observe two people conversing in the target language.
In what language are the menus of the restaurants?
What does “mei guo ren” (Mandarin) mean in English?
What does “cittadinanza” (Italian) mean in English
Find a newspaper in the target language.

The results were quite interesting and our final project post will analyze what we found.

Following the scavenger hunt in Chinatown we had a short walk over to the office where Tony Quintero Sr. works. Mr. Quintero is an accountant who performs audits all over the world. But more importantly, Mr. Quintero is an immigrant who came to this country when he was 18 years old and did not know how to speak English.

The interview was quite informative and the students asked very insightful questions. Mr. Quintero, along with a few of his coworkers, explained to us what it was like to have to manage two cultures. As our group is entirely composed of international students here to learn English, we certainly understood this perspective and surely look forward to reporting back with our analysis.

Perspective: Immigrants need to learn English.

2009-03-09T15:33:00.008-05:00

Today, our immigration group went to the Quincy Market. We asked random people whether it is necessary for immigrants who come to the United States to learn English. And Why. Each member in the group talked with at least 5 people learned many interesting view points.

Majority people said that it is required for immigrants to learn and speak English, because they can communicate with others with the common language and understand better. Also workers who speak more than one language can have more opportunities in getting jobs and benefit from social services.

2009-03-09T01:03:00.006-05:00

There is currently a debate taking place in our country pertaining to the English language. The United States does not have an official language but many feel that it should be put into law.

Watch this video. When you have finished watching it, click the link titled "Immigrants should learn English" and read the article. After reading, answer the questions in the form of a comment.

What are your thoughts on this discussion? Is a language what holds a country together? Is it possible for a bilingual country to work? Do you agree with Havovi or Jacob? Why or why not?

Welcome, Bienvenido, Willkommen

2009-03-09T00:29:00.008-05:00

Welcome to the Junior Urban Adventure! This blog will serve as the forum for the observations that you will make along your two day journey in Boston, Massachusetts. It is befitting that we are in Boston as we will be delving into the relationship between immigration and the English language.

You the juniors will be leading an exploration of three distinct perspectives. The first is that English should be a requirement for all US citizens and should be the official language of our nation. The second is that immigrants do not need to learn English in order to survive. The third being immigrants will both benefit and contribute in this country by combining their knowledge of two languages and cultures.

In order to uncover the answer to our questions from these various perspectives you will be leading a linguistic investigation through Boston. Over the course of 48 hours we will visit the Dreams of Freedom immigration museum, two linguistically rich neighborhoods, and speak with an immigrant who came to this country not knowing a word of English.

"According to the Census Bureau's March 2007 report, there are 37.9 million immigrants in the U.S. speaking 311 languages" (businessweek.com). How do we view this? Is it a problem? Is it a testament to the plan our founding fathers laid out?

Final Group Project

2008-01-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

Here is the final project from the group, "Do Fences Make Good Neighbors."

For more information about the Junior Urban Adventure visit the project's portal blog.

Massachusetts Alliance of Portuguese Speakers

2007-12-18T18:31:00.000-05:00

We met with the executive of M.A.P.S today, Paulo Pinto, in Cambridge. The group had a really positive response and had a lot of their questions answered. Paulo gave a first had account of growing up an immigrant in America and about the struggles he witnessed other immigrant families enduring.

A Productive Day One

2007-12-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

(Nicoya) - It was cold, but spirits were good. During our first learning block the group went to the Prudential Center and split into groups of three. They walked around for about an hour and a half asking employees their opinions about immigration. At one o’clock we had our meeting with MIRA Coalition in down town Boston (MIRA works with a lot with students trying to get into college). Here’s what the students had to say about the day:

Danny F.: Today was my first day of JUA. I thought it went well, I learned some new things about immigration. The person that taught us the new information name was Carlos. He was Hispanic and probably had first hand experience about what he was telling us. Overall I thought the experience I had today went well and I had lots of fun on my first day of JUA.

Molly M.: One of the things that I thought was interesting was that both the immigrants that we talked to were against illegal immigration. One even said he the US should strengthen the boarders. Another thing that I learned that I thought was interesting was that immigrants who are only six or seven years old were being sent to prison with murders for just coming illegally to America.

AJ H.: The really hard part of today was asking random people if they or someone they knew were an immigrant. When two separate people didn’t even understand what I was asking them, it was really embarrassing for myself also. I did learn though that people that work in America from other countries sometimes only know English words that they use in their jobs. Carlos from M.I.R.A. was a very cool and down to earth, and I learned a lot from him.

Ever H.: Today, we arrived after along and annoying bus ride and went to the Prudential Center. We had to go around and find out peoples opinions on how they felt about immigration in the United States. After that we took the T to go ti the MIRA Coalition in down town Boston, and met with Carlos, from Peru, and found out how the United States deals with the Immigration system.

Toby S.: Today we showed up in Boston and we went to the MIRA building and we talked to one of the guys who worked there and it was very interesting. Then after that we walked around china town and asked people there views on immigration and I found that it was a lot harder to get people to actually comment on it then when we were in the mall. Today was a lot more fun than I was expecting.

Ray G.: When we went to the prudential center we met one man who was willing to talk to us and his story was pretty sad, it seemed like it was pretty tough for him to create a life out of nothing, which is expected, but it was crazy how hard it truly was. We went to the Mira coalition and we learned a lot about the immigration process and the things that they face, as well as the consequences for any misdemeanors or crimes and they were much more harsh than consequences given to citizens. We also learned that there are 36 different immigrant statuses and there are different things allowed to each. There were a lot of cool things we learned and I think this experience is going to be good for us and maybe open our eyes to what’s really going on around us.

Dani A.: I was really impressed; we were talk to the immigrants in the prudential center, because we talk to a girl from Kenya and she was really scared, when we first talk to her. We asked her, where she is from and she didn’t want t tell as, so we asked some other question and when we were about to leave, she told us, that she is from Kenya. I had the impression, that the immigrant are really careful, about what they say and many of them are not really comfortable to talk about them being immigrant.

We also talked to a guy from China who was working in a little shop and he wasn’t even able to understand us. We just asked, if he likes to life in the US and he couldn’t understand us. The only thing, that he could tell us, was that h is from China and I really wondered, how he is able to work in the US without speaking English.

It was also surprised, how many immigrant are everywhere in the city but it was really interesting, to talk all these people and hear there opinion and experiments with immigration.

Kevin M.: Got verbally abused in Wendy’s by a lady cop who talked about doing in a bathroom Fitzy asked a security guard his immigration opinion and it turns out what we were doing is actually illegal. Didn’t really believe much of Carlos the MIRA guy.

Baron V.: At the Prudential center we walked around trying to interview people about their thoughts on immigration, when we did that and actually walked up to people it was a lot more awkward than I thought it would be. Out of the three people then we tried to interview two of them didn’t even speak enough English to understand and respond to us. The one person that did talk to us was from Kenya and she felt awkward at the beginning of it and didn’t feel like saying much until later. That shows me how hard it is for immigrants to talk about something so simple as coming over to America. The second part was going to the Mira organization, and I learned a little bit about immigration than what I didn’t know before such as jails for whole families of immigrants. Other than that I didn’t learn much more, but I did find a lot of it interesting.

We're Almost There!

2007-12-16T13:52:00.000-05:00

We're leaving tomorrow but the group met one more time to talk about our subject. Here are some topics that came up:

Toby says, "People should be given the chance to prove themselves hardworking and honest before being allowed into the United States. There should be a collaboration between the American government and foreign governments to determine who should be allowed into the country."

But what about those people trying to escape worn torn or oppressive countries?

Manny asks, "Should illegal immigrants be allowed the same protection and be protected by the same laws as American citizens?"

Molly: "If an illegal immigrant is injured should they be able to go to a hospital and be provided health care?"

Nicoya: "Should an illegal immigrant be allowed to sue for discrimination, or is that cheating taking advantage of the system?"

What about children who are brought here by their parents as an infant? Should they be allowed to stay, or deported once they turn eighteen? (This happened to a girl in Arizona whose parents died and she was deported at eighteen.)

Everyone's involved and has the thinking tank turned way on!

We're off to a great start!!

2007-12-04T20:36:00.000-05:00

With about two weeks left before our departure to the city of Boston, our group met today for about 15mn and talked and shared exciting ideas related to our topic. The students seem to be more interested in our topic as we are getting closer to December 16. They have been encouraged to brain storm some ideas and come up with questions and present them to the group in our next meeting. It's looking good so far!!

Oh the places you'll go!

2007-11-29T20:21:00.000-05:00

JUA is more than a field trip, according to Nicoya, "it's a learning experience to last a lifetime." Here's some of the places we'll be visiting...

MAPS: Massachusetts Allience for Portuguese Speakers

MIRA Coalition: Legal Service and Immigrant Refugee Advocacy Coalition

I am working on setting up an appointment with a lawyer as well as a few organizations.

We will also do a community survey with the questions of people at the Prudential Center:

1. Do you think illegal immigrants should have a path to citizenship (yes or no)
2. Do you think illegal immigrants should automatically be deported?
3. Should the US have more stringent quotas on the number of immigrants it allows each year and from what countries (yes or no).
4. If you are comfortable answering this: what race do you associate with and what is your age. We will also note if the subject is male or female.

Ryan J's essential question

2007-01-09T07:49:00.000-05:00

I was unaware of all the racism and poverty of the immigrants in Boston before this trip. Most of the Chinese community in China town has underpaid paid jobs and live under strict circumstances. All of their money goes to their bills and food. China town is the dirtiest neighborhood in Boston because there are some many people living in such a small area. When the city built a highway that connects to south station they demolished a big part of china town so that meant that all 1,000 people had to move into the rest of the neighborhood. There are a lot of organizations in Boston that are trying to help the over populated community. One of the places that we toured was a building that Chinese boys and girls go to after school to hang out and socialize with other kids from their community. They can get a tutor for help in their academics, research on the internet, or play games like ping pong. The other place that we visited provided housing for the Chinese community. All these organizations help out the community a lot by giving them nice apartments for a very low price so they can still pay for taxes and support their family.

Most of the problems are the Puerto Rican community is the violence. When we visited Via Victorian they showed us the neighborhood that they renovated. They provide premium condos for Puerto Ricans who are under paid and related to drugs and gang violence. Our tour guide was very good and he knows everybody in the community and is friendly with everyone too. When he first arrived to work for the community the first day two people were killed related to gang violence. All of the violence in the community is targeted towards certain people. Now there is close to no violence in this community and they run a pre-school and day-care center that provides the kids with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are also cookouts frequently for everybody who lives in the neighborhood. These neighborhood get together are good because everybody knows each other and it is like a big family.

The Dominican neighborhood in Jamaica Plain didn’t seem to have too many problems. There are many outdoor markets and bodegas that sell Dominican foods and other things that are imported from their country. We visited a hospital that was on the edge of Jamaica Plain. They provide health care for immigrants who don’t make enough money to pay for insurance. We took a walking tour of the whole Dominican part of Jamaica Plain. We visited a lot of interesting places like a corner store bodega, a outside market (that sells vegetables for the Dominican), and a music store that has all kinds of cultural music.

I learned a lot on JUA; I had always knew about poverty and violence in the cultural communities all across the states but I did not know how hard it is for them to adapt and earn money to support their families.

Liam A's Essential Question

2007-01-09T07:47:00.000-05:00

Junior Urban Adventure is a trip that the junior class takes to find out and experience the urban life and environment in the city of Boston. My group, cultural awareness, visited several multi-cultural areas in Boston. Before we left, me and every member of the group made questions that we wanted to ask at each place we visit in the city including Villa Victoria, Jamaica Plains and China Town. The Questions concerned the experience of coming to the states as an immigrant. My question asked “What was the most difficult part about coming to the states as a foreign immigrant”. I was interested on learning how one would cope with the many problems that they confront.
The first place we went to Villa Victoria was a mostly-Puerto Rican inhabited community who actually helped the new immigrants settle in,
helping with things such as, health care, jobs and schooling. We took a tour of the newly built area and visited every thing from the houses and parks to the schools and medical centers. I was actually very surprised on how nice it was. What was once a gang and drug infested neighborhood was transformed into a facility for all the inhabitants and provided many of the essential s that they would need to start a new life. Javier Torres our guide was very nice and he showed us the whole community. When it came to asking the questions I was actually nervous but he answered everyone’s questions with great detail and we learned many things about how the immigrants settled down in this community that was built just for the people who so very much needed it.
Next we went to China town and walked around visiting many historical sites and learning about all the hardships the Chinese immigrants had to go through. Like for almost all immigrants it is very hard to find a safe a livable place to stay. There was this one story that our tour guide, Amy Cheung, had told us about how there was a newly started Asian community but how the state demand them to move because they were going to build a highway where they were settled. Things were very rough but in time they began to settle down easier, finding many great places to sell goods and start small businesses. As new members of the community they marked their presence by putting Statues and art pieces around their community including the entrance to China Town which is a great stone arch. Some of the art was amazing as well as the intriguing story of their arrival.
The Last place we visited was Jamaica Plains which was probably my favorite tour. Jamaica Plains is a Mainly Dominican inhabited area. When we arrived we went to the local medical building intending on learning about the medical care in the area, but not only learned that but learned about the history, commerce, and food, actually eating lunch with our tour guide Anna Keyla who was very nice. We walked a long distance but the whole way learning interesting facts on how the community came about. The Dominicans, as all the other immigrants did, had a hard time adjusting to the new area. Many traditional stores and restaurants were set up, and when I walked through I did not really feel like I was still in the U.S. We stopped at several small stores including a bodega, a restaurant and a couple restaurants. At the end of the tour we sat down and ate at a restaurant called Internacional which had very good typical Dominican food. The whole tour was simply intriguing.
JUA was simply a great opportunity to learn about other lifestyles and cultures. How ever how long some of the days were the whole trip was a great experience. I have to say that before we left to go to Boston I had a pessimistic attitude towards the whole thing, but later when we were on the tours I thought to my self “this actually was a pretty good trip”. While on the tours I felt that I was learning so much and that my group and I were fortunate to have such a great opportunity. Thank, You Mrs. Harpring, Mr Mundal, Anna Keyla, Amy Cheung and Javier Torres.

Marc H's Essential Question

2007-01-08T13:27:00.000-05:00

In the United States there are many different types of people. People come from all over the world to live in the U.S. This could create a problem because if one place becomes over populated some citizens might be pushed out of their homes.

*What makes these places in the U.S. appealing to people?

*What are some of the reasons people choose to live here?

If we can answer this then we could create more of these environments?

On this JUA trip I learned a lot about why people come to the U.S. I also learned about what they go through and what some of the situations are that they deal with. Overall I would say that I came away from every place we went with more knowledge and respect then I had before.
When we went to Villa Victoria I learned that even in communities where there are mostly the same ethnicity you still have problems such as racism. I also learned that it is hard for people to come and learn the language if they have never heard it. This place helps kids learn and speak the language. This is a good place for people to go.
When we went to a history museum I was reminded that so many people in our history have done things that affected us in a big way. In the history of the United States there have been many changes! Changes such as Slavery, Racism, and more. Going to this museum reminded me of the people who made a difference.
When we went on the tour of china town I learned that my legs were really tired of walking from the whole week. More importantly I learned that Chinatown use to be a more color full place where kids could run in the street and play. Boston however built a bridge to go right through and as a result of this Chinatown got more compacted. In a result of this the street are smaller and tend to be more polluted.
When we took a tour of Jamaica Plain place I realized how people need to be careful what they do when they are immigrants. I remember one thing that our tour guide said. She told us that if a boyfriend hit his girlfriend she really couldn’t go tell the police because they were both illegal.
After going on JUA and hearing a person talk from each place I walked away with more knowledge then I would have expected to come away with.
To answer my Question I would say that people come to the U.S. for a chance to be what they want. A lot of the time they think the U.S. will be better then it is. When they get here they realize it is hard work. They like it but its not as easy as they would have thought. People also come here to learn and get an education. In my opinion we could make it easier for these people to live here. In today’s world we often close ourselves off to these different cultures. This makes it hard for them to get what they need. Hopefully sometime in the near future we can help these people make the U.S. everything that they thought it would be.

Chloe G's Essential Question

2007-01-02T18:59:00.001-05:00

Ever since America was discovered, many people have come to live here. These people come to the United States in search of a better life. They hope to find better opportunities that they might not find in their country. Do these immigrants realize that they will have to face the prejudice and racism upon their arrival? Do the immigrants find they have a better life here even though there is so much prejudice and racism? Can our society understand the lifestyles of the immigrants and stop being prejudice and racist?
I was sent to Boston in search of an answer to these questions. The group I was in was Cultural Awareness. My group and I toured Villa Victoria, which is mainly a Latino low-income community. We also made an unexpected stop to the Museum of African American History to remember the past. Later that day we toured Chinatown. The next day the group was able to tour our last stop which was Jamaica Plain, which is a low-income Puerto Rican community.
I would say roughly about half of the immigrant population, if not more, are happy to live in America. They feel like they have a better life. Immigrants have a misperception about the U.S. Some of them think that all Americans are rich and all the streets are paved with gold. They soon learn that America is not the same as their idea of it. Most immigrants live within the same community with people of their race. Immigrants feel more welcome and safe within a community of their race. Prejudice will always be in this world along with racism. Prejudice and racism will not cease until everyone is the same color of skin and speaks the same language. Some immigrants are victims of prejudice from their own race. Some people of the same race view other people of their race differently because they dress like different races or cultures. How sad is that? Violence is a major factor in racism and in coming to the U.S. People don't like to feel invaded by other cultures. They will tell the people of other cultures to go back where they came from. The acts of violence aren't random. Unfortunately, they are targeted. Is anyone really safe? Immigrants are also taken advantage of. Immigrants who are new to the country are fearful. They are scared to ask for help and we take advantage of it. Unless the immigrants are willing to speak up and fight for their rights, they will be trampled on.

Wrap-Up

2007-01-02T18:57:00.000-05:00

Please visit the JUA portal page for your assignments. You need to get me your essential questions essays and comments up on our Cultural Awareness blog by 1/5/07.

Thanks!

Thank You

2006-12-13T18:13:00.000-05:00

The Cultural Awareness Grouop (and I) would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the organizations and all of the people we met while we were in Boston. We had an exciting trip, and we learned a lot about some of Boston's cultural areas.

We learned that:
* Many residents of Boston's cultural areas are struggling to find affordable housing
* Many communities and organizations are working hard to reach out to all races, ethnicities and ages to work on building cultural understanding and tolerance.
* Many local communities would like residents to continue to be involved with community affairs so that they can preserve the fabric of their communities without being pushed out of their homes by high land prices.
* To preserve Boston's cultural areas, local non-profits and other grass-roots organizations (as well as local family owned businesses) should be supported in any way possible.
* And...maybe most importantly...we learned that Boston is the city that it is today because it houses many different peoples and cultures. That is what makes Boston so interesting and attractive to people who may want to move to the area. However, Boston is also a very racially and ethnically divided city. If they can find a way to bridge these divisions and build tolerance through organizations such as those we visited, then Boston could become a "model city".

So...thank you again to everyone! We had fun!
JUA Cultural Awareness 2006 -- Mrs.H, Ryan F, Ryan J, Chloe G, Marc H and Liam A.

The International Restuarant

2006-12-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

During our last day in Boston we took a tour of Jaimaca Plains. Our tour of the city ended. Unlike our other tour guides, the person we had chose to come to lunch with us at the International Restuarant. During lunch we tried foods that we don't usually eat. We ate foods such as empanadas, fried chicken chunks, and plaintains. The person who served us spoke a lot of spanish to us. In the end, this lunch was probably the best lunch we had during the trip.

Maria's Pastries - Free time

2006-12-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

Who: Maria's Pasteries
What: Authentic Italian Bakery
Were: The Northend, Boston
When: Monday morning
Why: We went there to see where most of the Italians go in Boston. The Bakery was a really good place to go because it was run by a Grandmother, a mother, and a daughter and 95% of the food they make is Italian.

The Jamaica Plain (JP)

2006-12-12T15:11:00.000-05:00

Who: Ana Keyla
Where: Jamaica Plain
When: Tuesday December 12
What: We took a tour of the Dominican areas in Jamica Plain.
Why: To learn about the the area's struggles and medical issues .

Today while we took the tour with Anna Keyla we learned not only about the medical issues in the area, but also about the culture (traditional music, food, etc). We visited authentic Latino comminity stores (bodegas) and we also had the pleasure of having lunch with Ana at a typical dominican restaurant. We had a very good time.

While we were with Ana, we were able to meet with several local people who metioned to us issues that the community faces. We had the chance to talk to a police officer who talked to us about how Boston is split into 3 main ethnic areas which are the Latino, African-American and Asian communities. The officer explained that it was important for them to understand and respect different cultural group's traditions, because otherwise things such as violence, racism, and other issues begin to occur.

For more information about the area around Jamaica Plain, visit Hyde/Jackson Square Main Street.

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center

2006-12-11T20:29:00.000-05:00

Who: Victoria Yue
What: Visit & tour the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
When: December 11 at 4 p.m.
Where: Oak Street
Why: To learn about services provided for residents of Chinatown.

What we learned: There are many services provided for residents, ranging from ESL classes to Peer Leader groups, childcare, a technology lab, after school services and recreational opportunities.

We learned that many Asian-americans still are involved in the industries that their ancestors worked in during the 1800's. (Such as restaurants, sewing, etc) We also learned that their is some racism against Asians and Asian-americans both within the community and outside of the community. The current issues facing the BCNC are: reaching out to all the members of the community to make their services used and to ensure that community members have a voice in the happenings within their community. They also struggle to try and find activities that teens and older youths can do in their free time.

For more information, check out the BCNC's website.

Tour of Chinatown

2006-12-11T17:43:00.000-05:00

Who: Amy Cheung
What: A tour of China town's historical communtity
Where: All of China Town
When: 2pm Monday afternoon
Why: To learn about the history of Chinese immigration into Boston.
What We Learned: We learned that China town started out in a single alley and it expanded to the 42 acre peice of land that it is today. China Town used to be peaceful and clean but now it is very dirty and over populated. This community is trying to fight expensive housing.

For more information, visit the Asian Community Development Corporation's website.

Museum of Afro-American History

2006-12-11T17:35:00.000-05:00

Before we went on our tour of Villa Victoria, we decided to make an unexpected stop. We stopped at the Museum of Afro-American History. We arrived at the museum at 10:15. It was important because we were reminded that the slaves were one of the first ethnic immigrants to come to America after the Europeans. It was important for the slaves to rebel, protest, debate, write in newspapers, and have other people help with the underground railroad. It was a major step in helping the slaves fight for their freedom, which they eventually won.

If you would like more information:

www.afroammuseum.org

Villa Victoria

2006-12-11T17:21:00.000-05:00

Hello, we are reporting in about our day. Once in Boston we started our morning by meeting up with Javier Torres. Javier took us on a tour of Villa Victoria. In this location we learned about the developement of the comunity and what the citizens go through on a day to day basis. We also learned that their current issues are racism, violence, prejudece within the Latino community, and reaching out to other ethnicities that are in the area.

If you are interested in looking at where we went, the web site is

http://www.iba-etc.org

Resources for our Essential Questions

2006-12-10T13:20:00.000-05:00

While you are researching your essential question, you should be looking for 3 web resources that will help you answer your essential question.

Once you have some background knowledge on your topic, then you can go ahead and research the places we will be going to formulate questions for the individuals that we will be meeting.

Please e-mail me your links, or post them as a comment, and then I can post them to the entire blog.

Sunday-Please bring with you

2006-12-08T19:09:00.000-05:00

This Sunday, you need to bring with you:

* Your cell phone (so everyone can exchange cell phone numbers)
* Our itinerary
* Some brainstormed ideas that could help you form your essential question
* a pen/pencil, notebook
* Questions you have about JUA, the trip, our topic, ANYTHING you need answered.

The Essential Question Template

2006-12-08T19:05:00.000-05:00

Here is the Essential Question Template

Sentence 1: Background or history of your topic. Gives the reader a chance to figure out what we are talking about.
Sentence 2: State a large, broad problem or issue with your topic.
Sentence 3: Ask a question that-if answered might be a part of the solution to the problem you identified.

Remember, your essential question should be unique to you. Something you are curious about.

If you have questions on the elements of an essential question, see the main JUA website and see my previous post about my mini-JUA insights.

Places to Go...People to see...Things to Do...

2006-12-08T19:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some highlights of our Boston trip:

* Visit Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion and tour local community
* Visit & tour Chinatown
* Visit Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center
* Visit Brookside Community Health Center
* Cultural Exploration of Boston's neighborhoods (TBD)

We're almost there...

Insights from my own mini-JUA training

2006-12-05T19:14:00.000-05:00

Here are some things I learned by doing my JUA training that might help you when thinking of our topic, cultural awareness.

* Everyone needs their own essential question. I will help you create your essential question, but I cannot create your question for you.

* Your essential question should focus on the theme of cultural awareness. (Use the questions we came up with last time to create a more global question for yourself).

* Use the template that Mr. M has on the JUA main website to help you

* We will be obtaining information from a variety of sources - visual, audio, personal, etc.

* Try to think of the facts that you already know, then form them into a question that cannot be answered by anwering yes/no or by going to your local library and researching. Ask questions that you know you may not find answers to.

* Remember...your goal isn't to find answers to your questions. Your goal is to be interested in our topic, so much so that you may not find answers to your essential question. If you don't, that is okay.

Essential Questions

2006-11-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

We met as a group today and discussed what we already have planned, and we also brainstormed some of our essential questions. Here is what our group came up with.

* What difficulties do immigrants have when they are trying to begin a new life in the United States?
* Is the main reason people want to immigrate to the U.S. for a better life, or are there other reasons?
* Do immigrants like "America"? Why?
* How do different races feel about being in America?
* How do immigrant children adjust to the education system?
* How do immigrants overcome adversity?
* How many different cultures reside in the Boston area? What are their living styles?
* Do different cultural artists receive more or less predjudice? How is their art different from American artists?
* How are living habitats different among communities?

So...we have many great ideas. And, we have several plans of places to visit. Please post your comments to this blog, along with other questions you are wondering (about the topic) and see if you can add more to our discussion about essential questions.

New Links

2006-11-09T16:11:00.000-05:00

I have created a few new links (on the left hand side of the page) to give you some ideas of things that are out there and people we could contact for information. Check them out when you have a chance!

Meeting with me

2006-11-09T15:48:00.000-05:00

Please meet with me before the end of this week. Before our meeting, you should print out the assignment worksheet available on the main page of the JUA site. This way, I will know what you want to do and who you would like to meet while we are in Boston. We should then have a draft itinerary set for December 1st.

Welcome to Cultural Awareness

2006-10-26T18:25:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Cultural Awareness blog! The United States has been referred to as the "melting pot," and most of our country's inhabitants are immigrants from one place or another. We are hoping to explore the roles that different cultures play in our everyday lives by keeping a live journal of what we see and do.

Today, we met our group and talked about what the Cultural Awareness JUA could be about. These were some questions we had:
* What is the definition of America?
* What are the similarities and differences between cultures?
* Are 'we' getting more hostile or more tolerant towards other cultures?

Possibilities for researching these questions are: visiting a multi-cultural high school and interviewing students from different cultural backgrounds; learning what cultural groups are represented in the Boston-metropolitan area; visiting local art museums; interviews with people in Boston. The options are endless! Please post any of your ideas or comments so that we can continue to explore ideas even further!