In "The Inner World of the Immigrant Child," Christina Igoa tells the story of a Chinese immigrant named Qiu Liang. Having immigrated as a child, Qiu speaks about his acculturation to American life and the struggles he faced in doing so. He goes into depth about his Chinese comfort zone, how he initially was silent in English-speaking settings and even refused to go to school for a week by locking himself in his room. He goes on to note the critical role of friends in helping him break the silence.
This concept makes me recall Sara's way of keeping quiet when speaking to me but chattering energetically in Spanish with her friend Viviana when we have the two of them together in a session. Even if talking about school work, Sara instantly expresses more ease in conversation when conversing with a friend and in her native language.
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Below is a picture of my mom and aunt watching, as my niece introduces my newly-adopted cousin, a Chinese immigrant, to one of her toys. My cousin, Bo, was brought to the U.S. two years ago and, unlike other babies in my family who feed off the attention of loving older relatives, Bo expressed terror in the overwhelming situations of family parties as people swooned and reached for him. This picture was taken after Bo had begun to establish a friendship with my two-year-old niece, Elly, and begins interracting with others.
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While verbal communication is not an issue for Bo as his first language will be English, he has still experienced a culture shock in his uprooting as well as his immersion in a world of people who look vastly different than those he is used to being around (and himself).
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