The Melting Pot
Essay by review • February 11, 2011 • Essay • 1,472 Words (6 Pages) • 1,854 Views
The Melting Pot
For hundreds of years, people have been immigrating to America. The list of reasons for this action can be infinite. The most common motive is to begin a new life. Inhabitants from all over the world desire to move to such a great country. This is because there are so many great opportunities in this country that can help people live a great life. Therefore, America is the blender and transcender of ethnicities because of language, social norms, and food.
In the states, things are better as to how standard living is in other countries. People, who are moving, do not think that their ethnicities would matter or make a difference to their living life. Although, there is much that is different in America from the custom things done and worn in any other country or region, people still want to live in this "country of freedom". Natives do not know a great deal about how much, and what they actuality have to change about their lifestyles once living in this country for a couple of years.
Americanization means to make or become American in habits, customs or character. This is precisely what occurs in America. You are not fully "Americanized" until you have changed your habits, customs, and character to what is common in this country. This process is still able to happen, though there are many entirely different cultures and ethnicities.
Sometimes America is called a tossed salad. This is because there are so many ethnicities, and cultures combining together. All this to make one peaceful and great country. Given that there are so many different ethnicities living in one country, people from different cultures adapt to one another and start expanding. This is why there are some people who have a little bit of every race inside them. People are called tossed salads at times as well.
Living in America changes many aspects about your way of life. This process is not noticed because you are changing along with society. Everyone needs to adapt to all the changes that happen in this country. After some time, everyone will be living with the same customs.
Language is a truly significant piece of America. Society needs language to communicate with one another. Every ethnicity has their own unique language. Therefore, every country has their own language as well. For example, Italy has Italian, France has French, Spain and Mexico have Spanish, Japan has Japanese, Vietnam has Vietnamese, and Germany has German. The list could go on for a long time. These languages are used in everyday conversations, which is why they are so important to our life.
In, a way having so many diverse languages can be a conflict because understanding another unaccustomed language would be a difficult task to pursue. Most immigrants, who come to America, arrive speaking an uncommon language. It is likely that these people have never heard the English language spoken. These people arrive here thinking to themselves that this new languagewill always be difficult, and they will never understand or speak it. If this does happen, a probable reason is that the person is ignorant. People soon learn to speak and understand the native language. From there, English begins to be passed on throughout generations.
Of course, the language that a person has originally been taught to speak, should not be forgotten. Those people, who do remember their native language, pass it along as well. English has roots of all types of other languages used in countries. This language was not all started from Americans. It took other cultures. So, in the end there is a variety of languages being spoken all across the United States.
We use social norms in our everyday life. They are how we get through a day in this life. If someone is to say hello to you, the proper thing to do is to say hello back. If someone is to reach his or her hand out, the proper thing to is to shake it. If someone puts their arms out, you should hug them. Fashion applies as well. Every country, state, even cities, have their own clothing styles. If a person were to wear an outfit that might seem normal in his or her country, in another country, that attire might be the strangest garment that country has ever seen. Even driving a car is odd in another country.
A stranger to this country would certainly be a stranger to our social norms. This individual wouldn't have a clue on what is going on in our country. Same thing would happen if Americans were to travel to another country. This dilemma is not something to be blamed upon. People are just accustomed to what is thought to be "ordinary". This is why there are so many different styles and actions that we use in America. People start combing what they know with what they are learning, and eventually
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