INTERVIEWS WITH BOSNIAN REFUGEES

Interviews with Bosnian Refugees

Interviews with Bosnian Refugees

Question 1

How do you adopt in Minnesota?

Answer:

Being a Bosnian, it is relatively a very different culture for me. Adopting Minnesota as a nation is not an easy task because the people living here are mostly from different countries, they all posses their own values and traditions.

Question 2

What kind of challenges as a Bosnian refugee, you are facing in the United States?

Answer:

Being a Bosnian, it is relatively a very different culture for me. There are many challenges that we are facing here, firstly the language problem, it is very difficult to communicate with native people. Dressing, culture, traditions are all different from ours and they are like challenges for us to overcome.

Question 3

How do you adjust in Minnesota?

Answer:

I adjusted myself by joining the communities that are relatively close to my culture. I have joined the English language classes for better communication skills. I use to go different places to get familiar with culture of people living in Minnesota.

Question 4

How are your children adjusting in the schools in Minnesota, and are there any issues that they are facing in the Minnesota schools?

Answer:

There are some issues that my children facing in the schools, as I told you before that language are the most challenging factor for us. My children are not use to the environment; they sometimes get harsh on other student when they call them “refugee”.

Question 5

What were the transit countries you have been before your arrival in the United States?

Answer:

Before arriving in the U.S, I have transited two countries. Firstly, I went to Austria then from there I went Germany, now I am in U.S. finally, living a life of refugee is much easier than the countries I have transited.

Question 6

Who had been most helpful to you in finding out about community resources in the U.S.?

Answer:

I had been helped by many of the individuals; my neighbors also helped me in searching my society people. And most importantly the agencies have played a great role in finding out my community resources.

Question 7

Have you been attending ESL classes, and how did they help adopt and adjust in the Minnesota?

Answer:

This is all because of the ESL classes which I have attended, that I am communicating in English with you. They have really helped me in making my English better, up to this extent and they make me familiar to Minnesota by giving me different assignments about the county so that I can quickly adopt the traditions of this country.

Question 8

How do you get a long in the United States schools? Are you treated differently? Are teachers paying more attention to your studies?

Answer:

Well, my children are quite happy in their school. They really appreciate their teachers at home. Yes, their teacher pays more concentration on them as they are refugees so things sometimes are not clear to them. They aren't really treated different from native students, there is equality in education.

Question 9

How do you shift from your professional or skilled ...