In “Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive,” Phuc Tran talks about the difficulty in the language barrier he experiences with his parents and how the English language is full of subjunctives.It makes up a general amount of the English language while Vietnamese has no subjunctives at all and everything is very straight to the point. The reason I chose this quote is because it helps break down and understand his whole rant about subjunctives and how important they are in the English language but how they do not exist in Vietnamese, So when he is speaking to his parents sometimes it seems like they see two different sides of the world and it is difficult to see eye to eye sometimes, “Not only did my father not have the language to envision alternate reality, he didn't have the luxury”(Tran 26). The reason why I think this shows a connection is because it shows the frustration and difficulty of language barriers and how it can easily shut someone out or even make them feel discouraged and alone.
In my book, Heartbreak Symphony by Leakan Zea Kemp, the quote I feel has a connection is when Aarón is talking about wanting to muster up the courage to go talk to Mia and ask her how she has been coping so well since the loss of her dad, When in reality Mia isn’t coping well at all but Aaron hasn’t seen that yet so he constantly bashes himself for still having grief. Making him feel alone, “I thought about stopping and asking her what it felt like. How she survived it when she lost her dad”(Kemp 13-14). Why I think this shows a connection is because they are both singled out and feel like they don't belong because of the passing of their parents even though Mia is better at hiding the fact it bothers her it still does. They both have that empty feeling in them that needs to be filled but they can’t figure out how to process and heal those wounds alone.
What types of support do immigrants need to be successful? Where should this support come from?
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