Thanks America: an Immigrant's Journey


Book Description

From a poor childhood in a remote place, a 14-year-old boy comes to America. There, he finds opportunities he never had in his native country. With support from family and friends in California's Portuguese community he takes advantage of those opportunities. Using his steadfast determination, hard work, and perseverance in the new land, he grows up to became tall, rich, and well-travelled. He, like many other immigrants, epitomizes the American dream.




Language Diversity in the USA


Book Description

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.




Portuguese Immigrants


Book Description




Identity, Civic Engagement and Multiculturalism: Portuguese-Canadian Immigrant Descendants in Canada and Portugal


Book Description

This special issue of the Portuguese Studies Review focuses on understanding the Portuguese−Canadian immigrant experience in Canada and Portugal, in terms of identity formation and civic engagement within a broader framework of current debates on multiculturalism, and transnationalism. This special volume resulted from the contributions presented at the Symposium Identity, Civic Engagement and Multiculturalism: Portuguese−Canadian Immigrant Descendants in Canada, which was held at York University, Toronto, on 11 and 12 October 2011. The issue presents studies by Robert A. Kenedy, Fernando Nunes, Ana Paula Beja Horta, Gilberta Pavão Nunes Rocha, Derrick Mendes, Christina Kwiczała, Benjamin Kutsyuruba, Filomena Silvano, Marta Rosales, and Sónia Ferreira.







Community, Culture and the Makings of Identity


Book Description

Offers insight into the histories, cultures, and social dynamics of Portuguese and other Lusophone and Luso-African of the northeastern seaboard of the U.S.




Immigration and Xenophobia


Book Description

In Immigration and Xenophobia, Rosana Barbosa discusses Portuguese migration to Rio de Janeiro from 1822 to 1850 as a significant aspect of the city's history. During the first half of the nineteenth century, many Portuguese fled the difficult economic and social conditions in Portugal for better economic opportunities in post-independence Brazil, which was experiencing a boom that was fuelled by such commodities as coffee. Its retail commercial sector attracted many immigrants from France, England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and most especially from Portugal. The arrival of Portuguese migrants was facilitated by the fact that they were mostly well received by the Brazilian government and elite, who wanted to create a "white" nation, while still continuing to import thousands of Africans every year. Although they were well received by the government, the Portuguese sometimes faced hostility and aggression from the population at large for reasons arising from nationalism and competition for jobs. Despite the presence of this hostility, most Portuguese immigrants in Rio de Janeiro adapted well to their new environment. They married or developed relationships with local people, bought properties in Brazil, and most did not return to Portugal. Book jacket.




New and Old Routes of Portuguese Emigration


Book Description

This open access book offers a comparative overview on Portuguese emigration in Europe and outside the EU in times of recession. It looks at Portuguese emigrants who, after the crisis of 2008, moved both intra-EU, such as UK, France, Switzerland, Germany and Spain, but also into countries with historical links, such as the USA and Canada, and to Portuguese speaking countries such as Brazil, Angola and Mozambique, as well as the processes of return. In addition to the dynamics of movement, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the heterogeneity of this emigration. It deepens the multifaceted identities concerning social and professional pathways among highly skilled and less skilled emigrants. The labour market continues to be the main regulatory force of Portuguese emigration, which helps to explain the outflow and the processes of settlement and return. Nonetheless, this book demonstrates that non-economic factors have likewise been of great importance in the decision to emigrate. As such this book will be a valuable read to policy makers, students and scholars in migration.







The Portuguese in San Leandro


Book Description

The Gold Rush drew the Portuguese from the Azores, sweeping them across the Atlantic Ocean and around South America's Cape Horn to the California shore. When gold failed to pan out, many Portuguese moved to the hamlet of San Leandro on the San Francisco Bay where land was reasonable and the ground fertile. Gradually the post-Gold Rush settlers joined with former Portuguese shore whalers to farm the fields of San Leandro. San Leandro became a principal landing place for newly arrived Portuguese immigrants putting down roots on small farms. A steady stream of relatives from the Azores and Hawaii poured into San Leandro's fertile foothills, and by 1911 the Portuguese comprised over two-thirds of the city's population. The early days were rough--Portuguese immigrants banded together in fraternal societies to overcome a lack of resources and to help one another navigate a strange world whose language they did not speak. Today the Portuguese Immigrant monument in Root Park's plaza commemorates the journey of Portuguese settlers who left everything behind to start a new life in the new world.