The Education of Immigrant Children in New York City

http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-3/nyc.html

Since this topic on immigration branches off in many different ways and does not just focus on one particular area of immigration but immigration as a whole and the way it affects everyone, I am also going to talk about the immigration of children in New York City.
The "linguistic diversity" that children bring to New York City, or anywhere for that matter, has gotten them to be assigned to bilingual programs such as ESL. This is so that any child that has immigrated can be up to speed with their classmates by strengthening their vocabulary in English, their spelling, reading, understanding, and speaking skills. ESL gives any immigrant child the courage and confidence, also motivation, to learn the English language faster so that they too can excel at the same speed as their classmates.
"Lack of English language skills is a major stumbling block in the adjustment of many immigrant children to their new schools". I look at this and think how true it actually is. I, once, was new as well and I can only remember how hard it was to learn English and how that stopped me from being able to communicate with anyone (kids, teachers, etc.). I had to take baby steps until I finally got to my destination, knowing English! When you first start out at a new school, and a new country, and have to get used to practically everything around you, it gets overwhelming- and then you remember the fact that you do not know English which makes it that much harder. Thankfully, in any school, you have the ESL program offered which helps break that block and releases what used to strain you from being able to participate in certain activities and make friends.

The attitudes and motivations that immigrant children show towards their education seems to be different than children already born in the country others immigrated to. "Newer immigrant children are highly motivated to attend and succeed at school, while more acculturated immigrants and the offspring of immigrants have higher dropout rates". This is true. As more and more people immigrate and as higher the population of newcomers are, the higher the motivations of an immigrant child becomes. Newcomers succeed in school while the immigrants that have already been here for years have gotten used to this life style and are more likely to dropout because they lack motivation and the care they once had for school.

Study In Canada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsx9ph0YnDA

This video constitutes of the requirements, reasons to study in Canada, final advice of why Canada would be a good country to immigrate to and come to study.
Some requirements that were talked about in the video were that many people everywhere have a hard time getting their student visas. One of the important things mentioned in the first segment of the video was that if you have finished your studies and gone to the next level of education but the type of work that you want to be involved in is not offered in your country, you can then apply to work in Canada and pursue your career. Lawyers that occupy themselves with immigrants will represent only genuine students and will help them obtain study permits in Canada.
The reason why anyone should choose to come to Canada and study is because Canada can be flexible in what it does and provide, even academically. It is also said in the video that when you immigrate you do not really think of staying for a long time in that country, just until you finish your studies. However, you will end up adapting and getting comfortable with the lifestyle in that particular country, whether it would be Canada or any other country of your choice.
A final piece of advice given was that it is "cheaper to study in Canada", that Canada "encourages multiculturalism", which has proven to be true, and it "allows people to be themselves"- thank goodness eh?. At the same time, "you will succeed as long as you seek the right advice."

Immigrant Children and School

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Immigrant-Children-and-School-36009.shtml

It is said that children that have immigrated "perform as well or better than their same-race, American-born mates." The reason for that being is because, also depending on the country, children have a tougher and harder educational system back home. Their thinking and learning is much more advanced than children born in Canada or America. That is not necessarily a bad thing, it is just the way the schooling system is in Canada. It differs from the ones in Easter Europe.
As it talks about it this article, and even in my experience, it seems that immigrant children show more ambition and motivation towards school which also has to do with the fact that children are aware of the fact that they must live up to "high parental expectations", therefore, Eastern European children, as well as children in general with tough schooling back in their country of origin, strive when coming to Canada to do well in school because they do not want to be behind but at the same time they want to please their parents.
Another reason why parents might have high expectations for their children to get high marks in school is because of their culture and tradition. It might be in their culture that their parents' parents had to work hard to get the child's parent into a school, therefore, when they were young they were taught not to take anything for granted. As well, they also had to live up to high expectations which was then passed on to their children because that is the environment they grew up in. The reason parents are tough on children at first, in the first couple of years, about school is because their parents have made an effort and a decision to move to a better country where there would be hope for their children; as well as a better education which would provide them a better future.
Being tough on children when you first move to another country is perfectly normal because you want the best for them, however, at some point you have to be more flexible as time goes by. It is good to be tough at first because it does not let them fall through the cracks with school and it does not let them forget where they came from and who they are.

Psychological and Emotional Effect of Immigration on Immigrants

http://www.byzantinecommunications.com/adamhoward/homework/highschool/immigrants.html

The above website is useful because it provides information about the psychological ways that immigration affects immigrants. It shows what immigrants' only common emotion with the rest: hope for a better future. The reason that most citizens of other countries immigrate is because "They had found that in their homelands in Eastern Europe, they were not wanted or not safe." This is true, as well as the fact that economically, many Eastern Europe citizens suffer from lack of money which leads to the lack of food, and basic survival, therefore, kids may have to help out their parents by working to help their parents make a decent living and will lack the chance of having a decent childhood. Many citizens living in Eastern Europe see America or Canada as an escape from their suffrage and as an opportunity of having a better future. America and Canada offers people a better way to live, a new life. It offers things that they could never have before such as no lack of food or working hard labour or way overtime so they could at least have money to buy a 2 litre bottle of milk that would only last them 4 days, or the lack of money for buying clothes and toys for the family. Here in either Canada or America you can get a stable job, make a decent amount of money and be able to make a living and still put your kids through school and live life fairly. The hope for a better future was the one thing determining immigrants to save up enough money to pay so they can get their Visa and immigrate.
Once immigrants get either to Canada or America, once they get jobs, they have to make sure that they "find ways to save money". Learning how everything works financially in another country and learning how to save up money so you can survive can also bring a lot of stress. However, the fact that America and Canada can bring them a brighter future is the one thing that keeps immigrants determined and going.

Canadian Immigration--Options for Immigrating to Canada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhq50HKEbUk

This video clip is a message from the firm Campbell Cohen by Attorney David Cohen. He explains how "immigrating to Canada is one of the most important decisions you will make in your lifetime". He explains how settling into a new community, finding a new job and living/starting a new life can be challenging. The one thing that should be one of the highlights, one of the most significant points in this video is when he says that "the best ways to speed up the immigration process is to find yourself a job in Canada" and that "finding a job in Canada ahead of time also prepares you for the transition of life in Canada".
What he says, especially in the last statement is very true. Not only will it take some weight off your shoulders and you will not have to look long and hard and keep your eyes stuck on the computer to see if anything has opened up, but it releases some of that stress of not having a job to sustain yourself and your family and be able to survive. By finding a job ahead of time, your transition is made easier because you have already stated what you are qualified in and all that is left to do is go to work and have your boss train you in whatever your job may be. After that, all you have to do is try to improve your language skills.
This video relates to my topic by Attorney Cohen explaining practically the basic things that happen while thinking of immigrating to Canada, and he gives great advice on how to that and what to do in order to speed up the process and make it easier.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/after-life.asp

This website talks about the adjustment in Canada. It explains the challenges and obstacles you have to overcome and will soon enough face in your life. The more research you do about Canada, even before immigrating, it is helpful to help prepare yourself and helps you adapt, most importantly mentally, to the lifestyle in Canada. As a newcomer, if you feel depressed, stressed out, and find yourself wondering everyday about what your family back home is doing and how they are, or are having doubts whether or not you have made the right decision by immigrating to another country for a better future, this website helps you and explains to you that what you are thinking and/or feeling is normal and expected. This site will further explain to you that feelings of stress are common especially that you have to learn English, and as a child, besides English you also have to learn French. So struggling with learning two new languages and getting frustrated is very normal.
I find this website helpful because if any newcomer were to come to Canada and felt so lost within themselves and frustrated and wanted to check if these "symptoms" were normal, this website would provide them with the right information and the right explanations. This is a great website to explore because it gives you information about coming to Canada, after immigrating to Canada, partnering with program providing services for those that are new in Canada, etc. All there is to know is just one click away.

Campbell Cohen

I have interviewed David Cohen who works at Campbell Cohen and has been an attorney for over 25 years. He occupies himself with immigrants and was one of the first lawyers to offer a full range of Canadian immigration services and has consulted immigration applicants and foreign workers over the internet. I had asked him what had motivated him or had given him the idea to come up with such a system over the internet at which he explained that he used to travel to Hong Kong or Korea, since most of the people that wanted to immigrate lived there, 6 times a year. He figured that if he didn’t want to travel to Asia all the time the website, which was built in 1995, would be a good medium to communicate with people wanting to come to Canada. The average amount of people that visit/use the website are about 30 000. The site provides an assessment form that people complete to see if they qualify.
He and his staff provide a variety of programs. For people who want to immigrate to Canada, they assess their qualifications. Because there are more than 60 programs, for instance family sponsorship, economic programs, etc., the applicants must be assessed against all other immigration programs and see which they qualify for. Their applications are then gathered, then the medical exam and security checks are coordinated, and once everything is in order, the applications are submitted and all Mr. Cohen and his firm can do is be there to support the applicants while they wait for their visa. This process usually takes about 18-19 months to complete. Once the applicants get their visa and immigrate, they set up a separate website called the “Loon Lounge” (www.loonlounge.org) which is a community of people thinking of coming to Canada, or born in Canada communicating with each other and finding someone who will assist them and help them settle in Canada by giving them jobs, etc.
Mr. Cohen had also helped individuals migrate from regions that have been hit by earthquakes or by the Asian Tsunami, which had also affected the people in Indonesia. The process of immigration from there to Canada is slightly different. They do pro-bono work on an ongoing basis to assist the people from those areas. Usually when there is a disaster of some nature, their applications are processed ahead of other applications.
Finally, I asked about the programs that Campbell Cohen offers to newcomers/foreigners and how that benefits them. There are plenty of programs available for those that are new in Canada such as getting help with their English and French skills. One service is for people to have education credentials recognized in Canada. For instance, if you were a chemical engineer in Russia and wanted to continue doing that job in Manitoba, what would you have to do? Manitoba would have places for you to go and get help with that. Another example would be that there are job placements. If you are new in Canada, you get matched up with an employer, work for them for a period of time, if you are a good worker the employer might decide to keep you and you would have a permanent job. It can be looked at as sort of an internship.