Immigrating to a new place means starting your life allover again. If you've migrated from a non-English-speaking country to a "English" country, it would mean learning to read, write and communicate in English, before you can look for a paid, or even unpaid job. This can take you years!
I was in such situation. I had a very limited vocabulary in my brain with regards to English language. I could read a little and write even less in English language. My communicability in English language would have been about three years old child's level.
It took nearly 30 years for me to be where I'm today. But my children think my English is not good enough. "You write immigrant-English, mom". People can tell you're not a native-speaker when you speak and definitely know you're not "born-in-Canadian" when they read your Facebook posts.
So, should I feel bad that I don't speak like my children do? Should I stop expressing myself because my English is not as good as an English woman can express?
I tell myself "No"! I try reasoning myself that language is just one medium of communication--just like the math, music and visual arts are. As long as my audience understands me, I should be fine.
I've many professional friends from abroad. Some of them have heavy accents and some don't. Even the ones without any noticeable accent are often asked "sorry, say it again?" The "whites" automatically assume people with colour can't speak English!
In my case, however, they have stopped asking me to repeat, and my husband says I speak better English than he does.
You see, he came to USA as a graduate student. He came with a master's degree in Special English and he was teaching in the only university as a lecturer. His command in writing English had impressed the department-head a great deal in the US. But, yes, my husband does have a mild accent when he speaks English.
On the other hand, I hadn't even completed my bachelor degree. I had to work very hard in learning to speak and write English. However, most of my speaking-English came from first-hand and on-the-job. This maybe the reason I've less accent when I speak!
My English maybe less perfect than my children's, but I've a lot more people's skills. I do a lot of things around my house and I'm interested in just about anything. This should compensate what I'm not. I should be able to live with this and keep in mind that there is a room for improvement--not just for my English but in all other aspects in my life.
I was in such situation. I had a very limited vocabulary in my brain with regards to English language. I could read a little and write even less in English language. My communicability in English language would have been about three years old child's level.
It took nearly 30 years for me to be where I'm today. But my children think my English is not good enough. "You write immigrant-English, mom". People can tell you're not a native-speaker when you speak and definitely know you're not "born-in-Canadian" when they read your Facebook posts.
So, should I feel bad that I don't speak like my children do? Should I stop expressing myself because my English is not as good as an English woman can express?
I tell myself "No"! I try reasoning myself that language is just one medium of communication--just like the math, music and visual arts are. As long as my audience understands me, I should be fine.
I've many professional friends from abroad. Some of them have heavy accents and some don't. Even the ones without any noticeable accent are often asked "sorry, say it again?" The "whites" automatically assume people with colour can't speak English!
In my case, however, they have stopped asking me to repeat, and my husband says I speak better English than he does.
You see, he came to USA as a graduate student. He came with a master's degree in Special English and he was teaching in the only university as a lecturer. His command in writing English had impressed the department-head a great deal in the US. But, yes, my husband does have a mild accent when he speaks English.
On the other hand, I hadn't even completed my bachelor degree. I had to work very hard in learning to speak and write English. However, most of my speaking-English came from first-hand and on-the-job. This maybe the reason I've less accent when I speak!
My English maybe less perfect than my children's, but I've a lot more people's skills. I do a lot of things around my house and I'm interested in just about anything. This should compensate what I'm not. I should be able to live with this and keep in mind that there is a room for improvement--not just for my English but in all other aspects in my life.
