GROSSMONT COLLEGE–Many immigrants and refugees need to learn basic information and basic skills if they are to thrive in the United States..

Those from my native country of Iraq need to learn to speak English, which involves learning a completely different alphabet than the one Arabic speakers use.  Learning to type is also a major hurdle: many do not know how to type with two hands in any language, and, yet, this skill is necessary before attending computer classes.

Many immigrants need to know more about computers ,both in terms of  hardware and software.  They need to learn how to save or delete their work,  how to print them, and various other computer commands.

Besides learning to express themselves in a new language, they need to have some classes about American culture , which is  different than Iraq’s.  Not understanding American culture can become a big barrier to their learning progress .

In this regard, they need to be exposed to some community activities, not only religious ones. They need advice on how to be sustain their families in these difficult economic times, how to network, and how to work and live in America.

They also need to understand the American political system, and in this regard, I append for them a short explanation:

The United States has 50 states. Some of the states are, California, Arizona, New York, Michigan, Florida and so on.

Americans vote for the President every four years. The President may serve only two terms, for a possible eight years total.  Now our President’s name is Barrack Obama. He is a Democrat/  The people voted for him in 2008 and he became President in January 2009. The next national election is in November 2012.

Every two years we vote for members of Congress, with those elections scheduled in 2012,2014,2016 and so on. The US Congress has 435 representatives, elected by district, and 100 senators, elected by state.  Representatives have two-year terms, senators serve six-year terms. The Congress is a separate branch of government; some members of Congress will support what the President wants to do, others will oppose him.

Democrats in Congress typically support Democratic presidents.  Democratic presidents have included Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter ,John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt . Republicans have included George W. Bush,  his father George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald R. Ford, Richard M Nixon, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

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Tamimi is  student in Media Comm 132A.  He may be contacted at [email protected]