Babel

Author: Gaston Dorren

Language: English

Summary: BABEL takes you to the 20 mightiest languages of our time. Half of the world population are native speakers of one of these 20. Well over three quarters can speak at least one of them. And just over 90% live in countries where one of them is used by central government. Continue reading “Babel”

Call me Okaasan: adventures in multicultural mothering

Author: Suzanne Kamata

Language: English

Summary: What happens when your child doesn’t speak your native language? How do you maintain cultural traditions while living outside your native country? And how can you raise a child with two cultures without fracturing his/her identity? From our house to your house – to the White House – more and more mothers are facing questions such as these. Whether through intercultural marriage, international adoption or peripatetic lifestyles, families these days are increasingly multicultural. In this collection, women around the world, such as Xujun Eberlein, Violet Garcia-Mendoza, Rose Kent, Marie Lamba, Leza Lowitz, Holly Thompson, Saffia Farr, and others, ponder the unique joys and challenges of raising children across two or more cultures. Source: amazon.com

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Due bambini a New York

Author: Anna Doria Lamba Language: Italiano Summary: Trasferirsi, cambiare casa, città e amici. Due bambini non sono assolutamente d’accordo con la decisione dei genitori di andare a vivere a New York. Soprattutto perché laggiù si parla una lingua che non capiscono. Non sanno però che New York è una città magica piena di cose da scoprire. Lo sapevi, per esempio, che si può far amicizia … Continue reading Due bambini a New York

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I named my dog Pushkin (and other immigrant tales)

Author: Margarita Gokun Silver

Language: English

Summary: Moscow, 1988. After years of antisemitic harassment, countless hours waiting in line for toilet paper, and having zero access to cool jeans, Margarita decides it’s time to get the hell out of the Soviet Union. While dreaming of buying the boat-sized Buick she’d seen in a pirated VHS of Miami Vice and getting a taste of whatever it is Bruce Springsteen is singing about, she comes up with a plan to escape Mother Russia for good.

When Margarita arrives in the US with her family, she has one objective – become fully American as soon as possible, and leave her Soviet past behind. But she soon learns that finding her new voice is harder than avoiding the KGB.

Because, how do you become someone else completely? Is it as simple as changing your name, upgrading your wardrobe and working on your pronunciation of the word ‘sheet’? Can you let go of old habits (never, ever throw anything away), or learn to date without hang-ups (‘there is no sex in the Soviet Union’ after all)? Will you ever stop disappointing your parents, who expect you to become a doctor, a lawyer, an investment banker and a classical pianist – all at the same time? And can you still become the person you dreamed you’d be, while learning to embrace parts of yourself you’ve wanted to discard for good when you immigrated?

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Heart of Fire – An Immigrant Daughter’s Story

Author: Mazie K. Hirono

Language: English

Summary: The intimate and inspiring life story of Mazie Hirono, the first Asian-American woman and the only immigrant serving in the U.S. Senate

Mazie Hirono is one of the most fiercely outspoken Democrats in Congress, but her journey to the U.S. Senate was far from likely. Raised on a rice farm in rural Japan, she was seven years old when her mother, Laura, left her abusive husband and sailed with her two elder children to Hawaii, crossing the Pacific in steerage in search of a better life. Though the girl then known as “Keiko” did not speak or read English when she entered first grade, she would go on to serve as a state representative and as Hawaii’s lieutenant governor before winning election to Congress in 2006. Continue reading “Heart of Fire – An Immigrant Daughter’s Story”