Serena Keo, 15, center, sitting in her Stockton home last Thursday with her mother, Sineth Tith, and her father, Chham Keo, who fled Cambodia 20 years ago and speak only Khmer (Photo: Victor J. Blue/The Record)Language barriers don't just separate cultures - more families than ever struggle to bridge gap
September 20, 2007
By Jennifer Torres
Record Staff Writer (Stockton, California, USA)
Serena Keo is a 15-year-old student, mallgoer, native Californian and last-resort translator to parents who fled Cambodia as refugees more than 20 years ago.
Serena, her four siblings and their mom and dad are among the nearly 40 percent of San Joaquin County residents who speak a language besides English at home.
Many of those residents - including Serena and her brothers and sisters - use English comfortably at school and in the wider community.
But many others - including Serena's parents - do not. Increasingly, say local advocates, language and cultural barriers occur not just across neighborhoods, but within households as well. Such gaps can add anxiety to the already exacting work of parenting and growing up.
"When you have kids who are in another world," Chham Keo, Serena's father, said through an interpreter, "they challenge you."
According to recently released Census Bureau data, 37.7 percent of the county's residents do not speak English at home. Of those, more than half - 52.4 percent - are nonetheless able to speak English "very well," according to the Census Bureau.
Among the county's 9,017 residents who speak Khmer, or Cambodian, nearly 60 percent also speak English well.
Sophaline Buth is the Stockton Unified School District's Cambodian liaison. She helps parents understand the education system and its policies, and also helps teachers communicate information to parents.
Those relationships are often difficult.
According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, more English-speaking parents than non-English-speaking said they receive notes, e-mail messages, newsletters and other notices from school.
While 88 percent of English-speaking parents said they had opportunities to volunteer on campus, only 58 percent of non-English speakers did.
In a 2006 article published in the journal Multicultural Education, California State University, Stanislaus, professor Christopher T. Vang wrote, "Schools encourage parents to be involved in their children's education, but many bilingual parents fear being misunderstood and therefore do not express their concerns if they have any."
Buth said her job is to help smooth those relationships, but she often is called on to ease communication between parents and their children, too.
"A lot of these kids say to me, 'They don't make sense, they are too strict,' " Buth said. "Some students, they're not thinking about how when you're poor, you have to find a way just to survive. They go out with their friends, and sometimes they get caught up in the materialism."
Buth sat on a couch in the home of Keo and his wife, Sineth Tith.
"Sometimes it's a situation that parents don't like, but what can they say? I have an example," Buth said as she looked at Serena, whose hair has purple-red highlights.
"Did your parents want you to dye your hair?" The girl smiled, looked down and shook her head "no."
Making sure children understand their parents' countries and culture helps ground them as they grow up speaking English and immersed in American customs, Buth said.
"That's why we built a temple, built a community," she said. "We try to send a message to them that your culture is unique."
Keo agreed. He said he is glad his five children can speak Khmer and hopes that they will visit Cambodia.
"They listen when we talk to them about it," he said. "But kids need to see it, where we come from, with their own eyes."
Contact reporter Jennifer Torres at (209) 546-8252 or jtorres@recordnet.com.
September 20, 2007
By Jennifer Torres
Record Staff Writer (Stockton, California, USA)
Serena Keo is a 15-year-old student, mallgoer, native Californian and last-resort translator to parents who fled Cambodia as refugees more than 20 years ago.
Serena, her four siblings and their mom and dad are among the nearly 40 percent of San Joaquin County residents who speak a language besides English at home.
Many of those residents - including Serena and her brothers and sisters - use English comfortably at school and in the wider community.
But many others - including Serena's parents - do not. Increasingly, say local advocates, language and cultural barriers occur not just across neighborhoods, but within households as well. Such gaps can add anxiety to the already exacting work of parenting and growing up.
"When you have kids who are in another world," Chham Keo, Serena's father, said through an interpreter, "they challenge you."
According to recently released Census Bureau data, 37.7 percent of the county's residents do not speak English at home. Of those, more than half - 52.4 percent - are nonetheless able to speak English "very well," according to the Census Bureau.
Among the county's 9,017 residents who speak Khmer, or Cambodian, nearly 60 percent also speak English well.
Sophaline Buth is the Stockton Unified School District's Cambodian liaison. She helps parents understand the education system and its policies, and also helps teachers communicate information to parents.
Those relationships are often difficult.
According to a report from the National Center for Education Statistics, more English-speaking parents than non-English-speaking said they receive notes, e-mail messages, newsletters and other notices from school.
While 88 percent of English-speaking parents said they had opportunities to volunteer on campus, only 58 percent of non-English speakers did.
In a 2006 article published in the journal Multicultural Education, California State University, Stanislaus, professor Christopher T. Vang wrote, "Schools encourage parents to be involved in their children's education, but many bilingual parents fear being misunderstood and therefore do not express their concerns if they have any."
Buth said her job is to help smooth those relationships, but she often is called on to ease communication between parents and their children, too.
"A lot of these kids say to me, 'They don't make sense, they are too strict,' " Buth said. "Some students, they're not thinking about how when you're poor, you have to find a way just to survive. They go out with their friends, and sometimes they get caught up in the materialism."
Buth sat on a couch in the home of Keo and his wife, Sineth Tith.
"Sometimes it's a situation that parents don't like, but what can they say? I have an example," Buth said as she looked at Serena, whose hair has purple-red highlights.
"Did your parents want you to dye your hair?" The girl smiled, looked down and shook her head "no."
Making sure children understand their parents' countries and culture helps ground them as they grow up speaking English and immersed in American customs, Buth said.
"That's why we built a temple, built a community," she said. "We try to send a message to them that your culture is unique."
Keo agreed. He said he is glad his five children can speak Khmer and hopes that they will visit Cambodia.
"They listen when we talk to them about it," he said. "But kids need to see it, where we come from, with their own eyes."
Contact reporter Jennifer Torres at (209) 546-8252 or jtorres@recordnet.com.
3 comments:
culture versus human desire and psychology.
Khmers said:
Chol Steng Tamg Bot --Chol Srok Tamg Protes.
Those are just a bunch of lazy ass goofy who are such no use to their society they're living in.
Do nothing, but gambling around and waiting for the food stamp instead. How shameful to our Cambodian people who are the most respected people on Earth.
Let the older generation retire in peace wherever they are. They survived one of the most horrific regimes on Earth. The younger generation will adapt to their host countries like ducks in water. More importantly, I would most like to meet voluptuous Serena to get to know her better. We parlons in Anglais, of course!
Post a Comment