Philip Paik is a hybrid of Korean and American cultures. He is fluent in two languages, likes Mexican food as much as Asian cuisine, and watches “Dae Jang Geum” on satellite TV when he’s not tuning into “Law & Order.”

Paik, 37, is a second-generation Korean, part of a monumental demographic shift sweeping Boston as immigrants change the landscape of the city. According to the Mayor’s Office of the New Bostonians, over a quarter of the city is foreign-born, representing more than 100 countries, with many of the newcomers hailing from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, China, Vietnam, and El Salvador. In Boston public schools, almost 44 percent of students speak another language. Like Paik, they straddle the bicultural bridge between assimilation and cultural isolation.

“They are propelled by the cultural values, skills, and resources that their parents have brought, yet struggle to create their own identity,” says Nazli Kibria, a Boston University professor who studies globalization and family life.

Many of these second-generation Bostonians are living an upwardly mobile life that their parents could only dream about, a life of ease made possible by the sacrifice of a previous generation. “These immigrants work very hard and do whatever it takes to provide a better opportunity for their family,” says Cheng Imm Tan, director of the Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians. “They come here with a drive and dream to live a better life.”

Paik, who is a graduate of UMass Amherst and a successful Jamaica Plains restaurateur, says, “I am who I am today because of my parents.”

Here, from the global village around us, are three more stories of immigrant families working toward achievement: