Question

Introduction to Speech

Just Need the questions answerd in paraged format. Thanks!

Cultural Diversity in the United States - Culture Shock: The Arrival of the Hmong

            Imagine that you were a member of a small tribal group in the mountains of Laos. Village life and the clan were all you knew. There were no schools, and you learned everything you needed to know from your relatives. U.S. agents recruited the men of your village to fight Communists, and they gained a reputation as fierce fighters. When the U.S. forces were defeated in Vietnam, your people were moved to the United States so they wouldn’t be killed in reprisal.

            Here is what happed. Keep in mind that you have never seen a television or newspaper and that you have never gone to school. Your entire world has been the village. They put you in a big house with wings. It flew. They have you strange food on a tray. The Sani-Wipes were hard to chew. After the trip, you were placed in a house. This was an adventure. You had never seen locks before, as no one locked up anything in the village. Most of the village homes didn’t even have doors, much less locks.

            You found the bathroom perplexing. At first, you tried to wash rice in the bowl of water, which seemed to be provided for this purpose. But when you pressed the handle, the water and the rice disappeared. After you learned what the toilet was for, you found it difficult not to slip off the little white round thing when you stood on it. In the village, you didn’t need a toilet seat when you squatted in a field to use the bathroom. When you threw water on the electric stove to put out the burner, it sparked and smoked. You became afraid to use the stove because it might explode. And no one liked it when you tried to plant a vegetable garden in the park.

            Your new world was so different that, to help you adjust, the settlement agency told you (Fadiman 1997):

To send mail, you must use stamps.

The door of the refrigerator must be shut.

Do not stand or squat on toilet since it may break.

Always ask before picking your neighbor’s flowers, fruit or vegetables.

In colder areas you must wear shoes, socks and appropriate outer wear. Otherwise, you may become ill.

Always use a handkerchief or a tissue to blow your nose in public places or inside a public building.

Picking your nose or ears in public is frowned upon in the United States.

Never urinate in the street. This creates a smell that is offensive to Americans. They also believe that it causes disease.

To help the Hmong assimilate, U.S. officials dispersed them across the nation. This, they felt would help them to adjust to the dominant culture and prevent a Hmong subculture from developing. The dispersal brought feelings of isolation to the clan and village based Hmong. As soon as they had a chance, the Hmong moved from these towns scattered across the country to live in areas with other Hmong, the major one being in California’s Central Valley. Here they renewed village relationships and helped one another adjust to the society they had never desired to join.

Please answer the following questions:

Do you think you would have reacted differently if you have been a displaced Hmong?

Why did the Hmong need one another more in the U.S. neighborhoods to adjust to their new life?

What culture shock do you think a U.S. born 19 year old Hmong would experience if his or her parents decided to return to Laos?

Using the information in the chapter related to ethnicity in chapter six, was it wrong for the U.S. officials to separate the Hmong to “help” them assimilate?

Regarding language, do you believe the Hmong continued to communicate in their mother tongue (even if they already knew to speak English) either in their isolated places or when they arrived back to reunite in Central Valley California? Would American born Hmong use the mother tongue too, communicate in English, or both?

Answer 1

Answer-1- Yes I would have reacted differently if I would have been a displaced Hmong because I would not have seen this lifestyle in my village. The life would be totally different in U.S. in comparison to my prior life. It would be difficult for me to understand their language, manners, social norms. Their education system, schools, society, offices would be different for me. So, definitely I would be very uncomfortable if I were a displaced Hmong.

Answer-2- Hmong had a need to stay together as the neighbours to be settled in their new life in U.S. This unity helped them to adjust in new situations of life and to adopt a different culture and society that was completely different from their own village. They had support of one another in a new environment that helped them to make their life easy and learned a diiferent lifestyle of U.S. in a better way.

Answer-3- The culture of U.S. is completely different from Laos. If a Hmong has born in U.S. and spent nineteen years of his life there than he would not be able to understand the lifestyle and culture of Laos. The major difference in the life of both places will be shocking for that nineteen years old individual. The decision of his parents can develop depression in him because he is habitual to live a comfortable and luxurious life and the life of Laos would be very stressful for him.

Answer-4- According to me , it was wrong to seperate the Hmong community by U.S. officials because it would be better for them to have one another support and sympathy. Togetherness could brought more confidence among them to survive in a different culture and situations. Seperating them for assimilation was not a part of ethnicity and it was wrong from my point of view.

Answer-5- I think that Hmong communicated in both languages according to circumstances, in their mother tongue as well as in English during the time period spent in isolated places and also when they reunited to Central Valley California. Hmong would be more comfortable while communicationg in their own language with other members of their society even they knew English.

If the parents of the America born Hmong use their mother language to communicate with each other than its possible that he learns both languages- his mother tongue and English. If they dont use their native language at home than it would be difficult for their child to learn it he would be expected to communicate in English only.