ESL Admissions Essay - My New Life in America

ESL Admissions Essay - My New Life in America

Unlike other people, I came to the US without any special reasons, except for the

fact that my husband began working here. Before this, I had never been in the US. In my

mind, the US purely was an abstract noun. I knew it from nothing but TV, newspapers,

and movies. However, since I came here, the US for me has become absolutely concrete.

A brand new life spreads out in front of me, which has affected me mainly in three

aspects--language, behavior, and vision.

The first effect on me was that I could not communicate in English. The language

became the first and the biggest problem I encountered in the US, which happened to me

the first day I stepped onto the land of the US. I found I became deaf and dumb--I

couldn't speak and couldn't understand what other people were talking about. When one

of the customs officials asked if I carried any agricultural products, I looked at her at a

loss for what to do. In the following days, I found that many things that were extremely

easy in China became the biggest problems to me. I couldn't understand the TV

programmes and couldn't read newspapers and magazines, I didn't know how to check

out after shopping, and I didn't even dare go out alone. All of these came from the

language obstacle.

In China, I had never had a problem like this. I had my family, a lot of

close friends, and a stable job. Life was very easy and interesting for me. But living here,

what should I do? Eventually, I chose to return to school to study English in order to

adapt myself to the American life as soon as possible. Every day I would go to the

college and spend a long day there listening, reading, and writing in English. I often read

books until my eyes became blurry. At my age, studying a new language was indeed not

easy. But months later, I surprisingly found that I was able to simply communicate with

others, and I also could read and write some relatively complex articles, which gave me a

lot of confidence. Now I believe that my new life will be beautiful as long as I do my

best.

The second effect on me was the change in my behavior.