Although they live in a foreign country, newcomers still preserve their culture through different means and transmit to their children and the main way of doing so is by speaking the heritage language. However doing so in a society where the children are more exposed to the majority language the heritage one is not such an easy task. For this matter, the present paper will briefly discuss the main reasons for the language maintenance by Chinese and Eastern European immigrants in the USA then move to analyse the obstacles the parents may encounter trying to maintain the language of ancestry as their children grow older. What will the minority language become over the generations?
Speaking the language of ancestry with the first generation immigrants’ kids is transmitting their culture and traditions as it is part of their identity that the parents are trying to maintain. They want also want them to be able to communicate with the extended family, as the relationship with the family, especially with the grandparents, is very valued for both Chinese and Eastern European in their childbearing. Another reason learning the language is related to intellectual benefits, as the parents see as a tool for one’s extended interests. It is also beneficial for a better brain development, “the more languages you speak, the smarter you are” as one of the parents from Nesteruk’s research declared. And to achieve their goals, parents are making tremendous efforts. A first way to have their children is in the family where the parents speak to their children in the heritage language, read to them in the language or show them cartoons and videos from their countries. And since the presence of the language in their homes is very importance, they tend to have the grandparents over for some time, up to 6months. This way the kids can interact with their grandparents, who usually have little or no knowledge of the English language. In this sense, the child has no choice but to speak the