Thuy Nguyen

When my family came to the United States as refugees from the Vietnam war, it was a new beginning. We had to start everything from scratch--learning a new language and a new culture while at the same time we had to worry about our basic needs, shelter, food, and clothing. My parents' main reason for coming to America is for us, their children, to be educated in a world of freedom. For me, it was difficult to learn English even though I learned it at a young age. My parents speak and understand enough English to be independent; however, when it comes to idioms, medical and legal jargon, they need an interpreter. It takes a long time to learn a language. My parents are very grateful to the language assistance they received when they were refugees. My family's story is similar to many immigrant/refugee stories. We already have so many barriers as citizen's of this earth: sex, race, religion, class, etc. Why do we have to add another barrier--a language barrier?

My parents are very grateful to the language assistance they received when they were refugees.