American experiences for “non-Americans”

Shared Immigrant Experiences Across Generations

The divide between immigrant parents and their children

I am a first-generation immigrant. After coming to the U.S. at age 7 without a word of English under my belt, it took 2–3 years before I stopped failing all my elementary school classes (except math, of course). My mother taught me my ABCs, while my teachers re-explained the 123s I had already learned in kindergarten.