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Finding a job is more complicated for this group than for the previous group. Manual labor jobs that require physical effort do not fit into their plan for a better life, causing them to reject these jobs. Preferred positions demand no specific qualification or physical effort, such as: nocturnal workers, store clerks, watchmen or other monitoring, and care-takers of the elderly or patients with disabilities. Aspiration to find a job in agreement with their preparation causes great frustration, but very rarely do they obtain such employment.

The interest to learn Spanish is great. For them it is important to reach high levels of Spanish for two reasons: (a) because they do not resign to the jobs that are offered to immigrants; and (b) they wish to learn a higher level than the merely instrumental one of survival because they also want to express their feelings in Spanish. The majority dominate French, which at first facilitates them in learning Spanish.

For both groups, poverty imposes resignation and self-contempt. It seems that the poorest people assume a negative vision of themselves, but of course, to take on those values does not benefit them; in fact, it favors others.

Something that both groups have in common is they like to learn Spanish sayings. My mother, who was from a town in Burgos, knew numerous sayings which she expressed to describe daily situations. I went through childhood without paying attention to them until one day in a Spanish class for immigrants I said one they liked, so they requested more. Due to their requests and enthusiasm to learn these sayings, I taught them many which I thought I had forgotten. The students remembered a great amount of them. They have also taught me some Moroccan sayings. For example, to show gratefulness toward the person who has taught to you to read and write you say: "To the person who has taught to me to read and write; I remain a slave.” Occasionally I spoke to them about the importance of taking care of your back during work in order to grow old with good health, and that it is important to take care of your health in all stages of life. Once an elderly person said to me, "sure, we say: until death, everything is life.” To warn of not becoming overconfident and to be alert in every situation they say: "when you see a lion’s teeth, do not think it is smiling.”

People from china

People of China are married or unmarried, men and women; but all are young. The objective of emigration is to improve the conditions of life by means of working and saving. It would appear that all have proper documentation. In fact, a Chinese person without “papers” has never shown up at the Center, but when I comment on the fact that every person from China has papers, they say to me: “No! Many Chinese without papers.” Their destination is wherever there is work; it does not matter what country. They plan on returning to China, but in a very distant future: "Someday when I’m old.” They all work; generally in Chinese restaurants for Chinese bosses. They do not work for Spanish industrialists or domestic services. Their interest is economic, saving to someday put their own business here: "a store of cheap things."

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Source:  OpenStax, Immigration in the united states and spain: considerations for educational leaders. OpenStax CNX. Jul 26, 2010 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11174/1.28
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