Learning English Paves Way to Success for African and Hispanic Immigrants in Syracuse
Besides having names that are decidedly not American, Mevenly Soumahoro and Leyanis Peria have nothing much in common except that they are immigrants living in Syracuse. They arrived in this city about the same time, and began the process of adjusting to the new culture and assimilating into the American lifestyle Soumahoro is African, speaks French and is a native of Ivory Coast in West Africa. Peria is Cuban, has all the features of a Caucasian and speaks Spanish. They don't know each other and probably never will. Yet, they share one common trait. They were fixated on the idea of immigrating to America as a result of their exposure to and fascination with American music, movies, fashions, and other manifestations of contemporary American culture when they were young and decided they would immigrate to America in the future But there was a problem. Both Peria and Soumahoro were severely handicapped. They couldn't speak English. The common languages for Soumahoro and Peria were French and Spanish. Both knew they would have to learn to speak and write English either before or after arriving in America. "In the Ivory Coast, we learn French in school and speak French with our parents and friends. Everything is French," said Soumahoro Within five years, a remarkable transformation has taken place for both. Soumahoro is now a car salesperson with a leading automobile dealership in Syracuse. He has enough command of English to be able to make presentations to prospective car buyers who will make the decision to buy or not buy a car based on his ability to explain the details of the transaction. Peria was recently the manager of the Southside location of the Cooperative Federal Credit Union. It is the kind of job that demands constant interaction between customers and credit union staff. According to Peria, she has no problem communicating in English She has learned how to speak English and appears to be quite adept at explaining details of credit union transactions to customers. "I love my job. I enjoy working with the people," said Peria Peria and Soumahoro represent the new trend in immigration; young men and women from foreign countries who immigtate to the United States and begin life anew in all aspects including speaking a language different from what they have known all their lives The case of Soumahoro is particularly significant. In the past, people from Ivory Coast usually immigrated to France, Belgium or Germany, countries where they are likely to encounter people who speak French. According to Soumahoro, a change has occurred: most immigrants from Ivory Coast and other French speaking countries prefer to immigrate to the United States. "The younger generation of people in my country prefer to go to the United States." He said. What is their reaction to the initiative taken by Arizona to resolve their illegal immigration problem? American politics and immigration are subjects most immigrants hesitate to discuss in public. They prefer to keep their options to themselves. Soumahoro and Peria choose to be reticent on the subject. "A
lot of things have happened since I arrived in America, and it has been positive'
said Peria. As for Soumahoro, he is focused on achieving success in his career
in sales. |