Interview Questions:

Oral History Questions-Word Doc

CHILDHOOD/FAMILY

• What country are you originally from?
• Has your family always lived in this country?
• What are your memories from home?
• What were you like as a child? What did you do for fun?
• Family structure
• What did your parents do?
• What is your favorite childhood memory?
• What were the conditions like when you left?
• When did you leave? How old were you when you left?
• As a child, had you heard of the U.S. before? What was your impression of it?

MOVEMENT

• Who decided you would come here? Why?
• Did you want to leave?
• Why did they choose the U.S. and not somewhere else?
• What means of transportation did you take?
• Whom did you travel with?
• Who did you leave behind?
• How did you prepare for your trip?
• How did people treat you when they knew you were leaving for the U.S.?
• Do you think your life would have been different if you had stayed? How so?

ARRIVAL IN THE U.S.

• Where did you settle when you first came to the U.S.?
• Who did you stay with?
• Did you know people from your home country who were also living in this area?
• What languages did you speak before you came?
• What was your experience learning English?
• How did you lifestyle change when you came here?
• What was your first impression of the U.S.? How has that changed?
• How were you treated when you first arrived? Has that changed?

GOALS

• What languages did you speak when you first came here?
• What were your hopes for yourself when you came here?
• Job in California?
• Move to New York?
• School/Education?
• Current Work
• Do you visit your country often?
• Do you call/skype/write to country often?
• What cultural practices from your country do you still practice at home?
• Do you wish to pass those on to your daughter?

Is there anything else you would like to share/tell me or that I may have left out?