Multi-Cultural Languages

Challenges of an Immigrant

In Julia Alvarez’s story “Snow”, Yolanda, a young immigrant girl, who has a weak grasp of the English language, has a misunderstanding of a drawing by her teacher, Sister Zoe. Dotted chalk marks drawn by Sister Zoe to illustrate the effects of the possible war between the U.S. and Communists resembled snowflakes. Interpreting falling snowflakes as radioactive fallout from a nuclear bomb, Yolanda’s reaction leaves few of her classmates panicking and her teacher in shock. Due to the language barrier and the new environment, she is confused about the crisis in the U.S.

Yolanda’s language barrier is a difficulty she is faced with, being the only immigrant in her class. Since she is not able to speak English well she is put in a special seat in the first row and tutored by Sister Zoe. To build her English skills, Sister Zoe teaches her new vocabulary words. Sister Zoe has to pronounce the words slowly so she can follow. She heard new vocabulary, ``nuclear bomb``, ``radioactive fallout``, ``bomb shelter`` (2). To allow for Yolanda to get a clear understanding of these words, Sister Zoe ``drew a picture of a mushroom cloud on the blackboard and dotted a flurry of chalk marks for the dusty fallout``.

Yolanda’s new environment is another difficulty she is faced with. Winter approached, it began to get cold and one day it began to snow. Yolanda was not familiar with the climate changes in the United States. She had never seen snow before, she only heard about it. The snowflakes resembled the deadly fallout drawn by Sister Zoe so Yolanda assumed that a nuclear bomb had exploded. Sister Zoe then realized that it was snow, she corrected Yolanda and explained to her what it was and what it signified.

``Each flake was different, Sister Zoe had said, like a person, irreplaceable and beautiful`` (5). Julia Alvarez compares