expats, finland, multicultural families, multilingualism, parenting

Anxieties Of An Immigrant Parent

Is my daughter ashamed I cannot speak the local language fluently? Will she be when she’s older?
Will my children stop speaking my native language and cut me out of their lives?
Will they be ashamed of being different? Will they hate me because of that?
Will my children be bullied because of their heritage? Will I be able to stand up and support them if that happens? Do their friends tease them because of my language skills?
What will I do when they are older and I have no awareness of what they say in the local language? What if they curse and I miss to correct them?
What if someone insults us in the street in the local language and I do not notice, and my child thinks I’m not standing up to the harassment?
Did I negotiate a fair salary at my job? Is my incapability of doing so cutting opportunities for my family?
Am I aware of all services? Is the language barrier cutting my family out of the services we need?
Am I getting all the social benefits I’m entitled to? Or were some got lost in translation?
Do other parents avoid contacting me for playdates because I am a foreigner? Or because they feel uncomfortable speaking English? Or because they don’t trust my family to be able to communicate with their children?
How long do I have to live here to be accepted for who I am? Will I ever? Will fluency in a language I’ll never be fluent in always be the compulsory requirement?
Should I sacrifice my little free time to further study a language I grew to hate? Did I try hard enough?
What if something happens to me and my husband is left with no family support? What if we are forced to leave the country and my children’s cultural identity gets messed up?
Would living elsewhere be any different?
Do I read enough local news? Do I access local news that matter?

Is my vulnerability as a foreigner cutting opportunities for my children?

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