Hirapetian explains that Vera had problems speaking Armenian, which led her to go hungry on some occasions because her mother had difficulty understanding her. The mother says: “She kept saying, 'I'm starving, I'm starving.' And I had no idea what she meant” (2). This shows that misunderstandings within the family had an impact on Vera's needs. Hirapetian explains that one of the difficult situations was Vera's parents' fear that their daughter would not accept their native language, which could lead to the loss of Vera's cultural identity and heritage. Hirapetian says, “As Vera continued to communicate in English, the parents became concerned about what they saw as their little girl's more resistant native language” (2). It is obvious that Vera's parents were worried that their daughter would not speak her native language and use it in the future. All of these constitute some of the problems that arose between Vera and her parents. If Jack had encouraged Vera to engage in some educational activities involving her native language, the family could have prevented this problem from occurring. Instead of watching American movies and cartoons with Vera, Jack could also have watched TV programs in their native language with Vera.