The Amish

The Amish community is a simple people living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

Originally the Amish came from Central Europe, Germany and Switzerland, they are devout Christians.

They don’t go to a typical Church but to a Mennonite Church.

The Amish in Pennsylvania speak in a language known as “Pennsylvania Dutch”(PD) that includes numerous English words, they know also a typical English so they could communicate with non-community members, and in working relationships they use High German.

Amish has a different education from the rest of the United States. Their school is separate and the Amish children study only until the age of 12.

In school they get a formal education. classes are conducted in English so they can learn the language.

The Amish women start to work in the fields and in the kitchen from an early age.

After they become 12 the parents get the responsibility for the continued education, usually they teach them the profession in which the parents work, and what they are likely to work in the future, like carpentry, shop owners, building houses and rooves.

The Amish’s lifestyle is very simple, they don’t use technology, they use candles instead of lamps and carriages with horses instead of cars.
Their clothes are also very simple, the women wear long and modest dresses in dark, uniform colors and without ornaments, and they are not allowed to wear jewelry.
Men also wear dark-colored suits and solid-colored shirts.
In their teens and twenties ages, single women wear black covers for church service, and besides that all women of all ages wear white covers all the time.

The Amish chose in this way of life because close family and community life is very important to them.
They don’t want to mix with different cultures, so that their community does not disapear.
In the Amish community there is a limited amount of people in the community and in cases where the community exceeds the limit it splits to allow for good closeness between the members of the community.
Another way to encourage closeness is to ban the use of the telephone for members of the community, nowadays it is customary to have one telephone at the end of the farm that is not intended for long conversations.