Language Diversity in the USA

Language Diversity in the USA PDF

Author: Kim Potowski

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2010-08-05

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 1139491261

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

What are the most widely spoken non-English languages in the USA? How did they reach the USA? Who speaks them, to whom, and for what purposes? What changes do these languages undergo as they come into contact with English? This book investigates the linguistic diversity of the USA by profiling the twelve most commonly used languages other than English. Each chapter paints a portrait of the history, current demographics, community characteristics, economic status, and language maintenance of each language group, and looks ahead to the future of each language. The book challenges myths about the 'official' language of the USA, explores the degree to which today's immigrants are learning English and assimilating into the mainstream, and discusses the relationship between linguistic diversity and national unity. Written in a coherent and structured style, Language Diversity in the USA is essential reading for advanced students and researchers in sociolinguistics, bilingualism, and education.

Writers of the Portuguese Diaspora in the United States and Canada

Writers of the Portuguese Diaspora in the United States and Canada PDF

Author: Luis Goncalves

Publisher:

Published: 2015-11-03

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 9780996051125

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This anthology brings together fiction, poetry, recipes, and memoirs by some of the best Portuguese-Canadian and Portuguese-American writers to narrate the Portuguese Diasporic experience in North America. These works focus on lived experiences, shared spaces and the ethnic identity through which this distinctive culture is lived in the United States of America and Canada, both of which have long been home to significant and vibrant Portuguese communities that arrived roughly in the same waves of migration. In this book, you will find a range of texts full of passion, wit, and poise, even as they wrestle with a sense of loss about the passing of the torch from generation to generation, the attempts at integration into the mainstream, and the often overlooked third space or otherness often felt by Portuguese-Canadians and Portuguese-Americans. There are also stories about the power gained from the preservation of cultural practices that promote a strong sense of self and strengthen family and community ties, and also the awareness that success can come from understanding one's legacy. We would like to emphasize that even though this anthology was compiled from the perspective of the Portuguese Diaspora to North America, the result goes beyond that community and reflects larger complexities of articulations in Canadian and American everyday life and identity that will resonate with people of any ancestry in these countries. Among the many writers included are Katherine Vaz, George Monteiro, Irene Marques, Anthony Barcellos, August Mark Vaz, Millicent Borges Accardi, Sam Pereira, Darrell Kastin and Frank X. Gaspar. Each of them offers a unique view on the heterogeneity, intricateness, and vibrancy of experiences of the Portuguese Diasporas in Canada and the United States.

In Pursuit of Their Dreams

In Pursuit of Their Dreams PDF

Author: Jerry R. Williams

Publisher: Tagus

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Jerry Williams' history of Azorean immigration to the United States offers us valuable insight into the experience and culture of Portuguese immigrants and their descendents. This account fills a major gap in American immigration history and gives us a comprehensive overview of how Portuguese-Americans--now numbering close to a million people--have come to constitute a vibrant and highly visible presence within southeastern New England, the areas around San Francisco and San Diego, Hawaii, and the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area. Even though Azorean immigrants all came from similar cultural and social backgrounds, Williams shows how regionally specific opportunity structures and social hierarchies have contributed to significant differences within the Portuguese-American experience. Starting with the whaling routes that first connected the mid-Atlantic archipelago with the ports of call in New England and California in the early 1800s, Williams lays out the complex relationship between the Azores and the US that has continued into the present. We learn how particular patterns of poverty, overpopulation and social inequality in the Azores pushed large numbers of the islands' inhabitants to leave their homes in search of better opportunities for themselves and their children. He tells the story of how the early whalers who jumped ship in New Bedford, San Francisco, or Hawaii were followed by kin and fellow villagers who had heard of plentiful jobs in New England's textile mills, gold and land in California, or agricultural work on Hawaiian plantations. Williams' account allows us to understand the importance of family and community connections throughout the immigrants' arduous transition from peasant life to industrial society.

Luso-American Literature

Luso-American Literature PDF

Author: Robert Henry Moser

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 415

ISBN-13: 0813550572

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Portuguese and Cape Verdean immigrants have had a significant presence in North America since the nineteenth century. Recently, Brazilians have also established vibrant communities in the U.S. This anthology brings together, for the first time in English, the writings of these diverse Portuguese-speaking, or "Luso-American" voices. Historically linked by language, colonial experience, and cultural influence, yet ethnically distinct, Luso-Americans have often been labeled an "invisible minority." This collection seeks to address this lacuna, with a broad mosaic of prose, poetry, essays, memoir, and other writings by more than fifty prominent literary figures--immigrants and their descendants, as well as exiles and sojourners. It is an unprecedented gathering of published, unpublished, forgotten, and translated writings by a transnational community that both defies the stereotypes of ethnic literature, and embodies the drama of the immigrant experience.

The Portuguese in the Age of Discovery c.1340–1665

The Portuguese in the Age of Discovery c.1340–1665 PDF

Author: David Nicolle

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-11-20

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 1780961227

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From humble beginnings, in the course of three centuries the Portuguese built the world's first truly global empire, stretching from modern Brazil to sub-Saharan Africa and from India to the East Indies (Indonesia). Portugal had established its present-day borders by 1300 and the following century saw extensive warfare that confirmed Portugal's independence and allowed it to aspire to maritime expansion, sponsored by monarchs such as Prince Henry the Navigator. During this nearly 300-year period, the Portuguese fought alongside other Iberian forces against the Moors of Andalusia; with English help successfully repelled a Castilian invasion (1385); fought the Moors in Morocco, and Africans, the Ottoman Turks, and the Spanish in colonial competition. The colourful and exotic Portuguese forces that prevailed in these battles on land and sea are the subject of this book.

So Ends this Day

So Ends this Day PDF

Author: Donald Warrin

Publisher: Tagus Press

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781933227283

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Fascinating history of the American whaling industry highlighting the role of its Portuguese participants.

A Concise History of Portugal

A Concise History of Portugal PDF

Author: David Birmingham

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2003-11-13

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780521536868

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This concise, illustrated history of Portugal offers an introduction to the people and culture of the country, its empire, and to its search for economic modernisation, political stability and international partnership. The book studies the effects of the vast wealth mined from Portuguese Brazil, the growth of the wine trade, and the evolution of international ties. The Portuguese Revolution of 1820 to 1851 created a liberal monarchy, but in 1910 the king was overthrown and, by 1926, had been replaced by a dictatorship. In 1975 Portugal withdrew from its African colonies and turned north to become a democratic member of the European Community in 1986. Researched during the years which followed the fall of Portugal's dictators in 1974, this book has become the standard single-volume work. The second edition brings the story up to date and discusses the state of historical writing on Portugal at the turn of the millennium.