'Generation 1.5': A Bridge Between Generations Of Immigrants

4 September 2006 - 9:00am

Neither first nor second generation immigrants, those who migrated with their parents to America as children are often caught between the old world and the new.

Generation 1.5 — a term first coined years ago in California's Asian community as a way to differentiate immigrants who arrive in America as children - is now being popularized by academics and researchers as well.

"Generation '1.5ers' are not completely first-generation immigrants. They're not second-generation, either. At school, they're foreigners with accents. At home, they're a window into American culture — jeans, hair gel and all. Many are dragged from errand to errand, interpreting for their parents."

"Generation 1.5 immigrants often emerge as bicultural bridges in adulthood. And their role is expanding in Georgia, which has had the nation's fourth-fastest-growing immigrant population this decade, according to the census."

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 3, 2006
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