I was not born in the United State; I did not come to America until nine years old. I was not born to speak English; it took me many years to master the skill of speaking in English without an “accent”, yet till now I am still considered not a fluent English speaker. English is not my first language, but it became a major part of my life. This language itself had people around the world, spending extra money and time to learn, it is no exception in Hong Kong. Especially when Hong Kong was under the British Crown rule for more than a century. There are English classes in Hong Kong during normal school hours, but those are not enough for us to become a more “sophisticated” English speaker. Therefore, my parents spend a lot of money and time for …show more content…
The elementary school I went to, including all first grades to fifth grades, there were only less than twenty Chinese children. The school did not have ESL (English Second Language) programs, as a result, I had a hard time absorbing class materials, and getting along with my classmates. Especially during the cold icy winter, the cold breeze running through my face during recess, I felt so lonely, luckily my two cousins who went to the same school with me played with me for the first few months. When class started, no matter how warm the classroom is, all I felt was the chill of nervousness of trying to make friends within the class, and ask for help from the teacher. I learned how to write and read when I was in Hong Kong, but only knowing the language does not mean I will have friends. To non-native speakers, one of the most important things is not how well you write or read; it is how well you understand the culture of the new places you live in. I had a hard time adapting for the first few months in North Andover, it was not because my classmates did not understand what I was saying (with my broken English), it was me who had a hard time understanding the stuff my classmates find funny. I did not get their jokes, movies, cartoon or Hollywood stars they talked about, I did not even know who Britney Spears was until I went home one day and asked my cousin. Everyday, going to school was so dreadful, I thought I would be happy; instead I was so nervous all the time. I would cry at night, or frustrated with my homework, and annoyed by the fact there are classmates who made fun of me. As a result, I studied extra hard in this language, also realized even in writings or interaction with others, culture played a big part. Since I did not have any knowledge of American culture, even though I learned English in Hong Kong, but the level of
Prior to immigrating to America, Nicole attended a public school in China where all of her teachers were Chinese natives. At Nicole’s school in China, however, English is a required course of study taught mostly by emphasizing English vocabulary, completing short one-page writing assignments, and practicing spelling. Learning English pronunciations and engaging in realistic English conversation wasn’t the goal for educators in China. The goal in China was to prepare students to pass their post-high school exam, which was their ticket into attending a university. The exam is highly demanding for Chinese students because it requires knowledge of English reading, comprehension, spelling and writing. For Nicole, the most stressful part of this exam was that students taking it
Before I was able to enter main high school program at Fairmont, they placed me into an ESL program due to my frog-like English. The program was placed in a special campus; it was like an isolated facility. But it was not too negative, since I would have feel even more embarrassed to face other native speakers with my English then. There, the teachers tried their best to babysit their students with tons of essay and journal topics to crawl out the students’ hidden potentials in English. Additionally, they also added some simply high courses so that students would not fall too far behind with their education programs as well as giving a sense of American education system.
For me adapting a new language was tough because where I came from we don’t verbalize English. So, before we move to the United States I had to get that primary knowledge of English in a short duration. At that time I consummated my one semester of 9 the grade. My parents thought of dropping me out school, so I can just focus on English. Since then my main focus was to learn English. I think that was the hardest thing I have done in my life. Day by day I was learning incipient thing, but I wasn’t quit understanding the language.
For instance, English is the official language, both in Singapore and Hong Kong. Moreover, Singapore and Hong Kong both became international financial and economic centers. The new technology, education systems and the Enlightenment ideas introduced by the British built a bridge between their past to their irreplaceable positions in the modern world. Yet, Singapore and China suffered severe economic distress for years. Also, the hardship of Chinese and Singapore citizens under the era of imperialism was inestimable. Imperialism could not be praised or blamed. It is the product of historical background and complex relationships among
Reason one is that, I was born in the U.S with asian parents. So I was a half-asian. I naturally did not learn english as my first language. So when I started school I struggled to fit in and understand people.
thought I'd never leave. I spoke only Cantonese, both to my friends and to my parents.
Have you ever imagine if you can able to read and write a difference language that does not your first language? I am a Vietnamese immigrant student and I am studying in the college in U.S. When I first attended college in U.S, I had had a hard time of reading and writing English. I spent most my time during the first three years to learning English. From learning at the church, to going to every classes or courses at the college I could find out about, reading and writing were what I was doing. I have been doing many things such as work and school together since I arrived here, but studying English was the number one important things that I have to be good at and I still enjoy doing it at every opportunity I get.
Living in the United States as a Korean-American was not an easy task growing up. Sure I knew how to read and write English, but I did not know how to read, speak, and write my native language. It was difficult for me emotionally because I felt other people looked down on me especially Korean adults who often asked me why I did not know how to speak Korean in which I had no direct answer. "You should know how to at least speak Korean," they commonly spoke in a friendly tone, trying not to hurt my feelings. In my seventh grade year, I had the urge to take a step in order for me to fit in with the rest of my fellow peers, the Korean sub communities, and feel better about myself.
I remember moving to a new school and not knowing the language. Students helped me learn French and it seemed so hard at first. Sometimes, students did not always teach me the nicest things to say, such as profanity, but everything was fun and new. Teachers were very nice and understanding due to the fact that I ...
When those people first come to the U.S., they personally feel difficulty in communicating with others, even if english is taught in their native country. It is difficult for them to speak english and look for friends, they become shy speaking english and are afraid of making mistakes. They become scared of people not understanding them and getting confused by what they say, but eventually they generally adapt to the culture of speaking english. It is hard for them to accept english as a second language, but they become comfortable with it eventually. Tan exceeded in math and science but she did have a hard time getting good grades in english.
“Bilingual Education looks pretty on the surface but it’s cracking up underneath,” Jill smirked as she took a spoonful of the salmon brioche. Seated at the corner of a quaint café, Jill was dressed formally as she was from her workplace. Being one of the few Eurasians who interns at an international law firm, she has definitely proven herself to be an outstanding candidate for the firm due to her impeccable command of English. However, on that day, Jill reverted to speaking conversational English as she recollected her thoughts and unveiled her experiences during her ten years of Bilingual Education.
My family and I moved to United States in 1998 from Albania. My parents believed that I and my sister would get a better education here and also it would be useful and interesting to learn another language and its culture. Considering I didn’t speak a word of English I was very scared about starting high school. I was scared about fitting in with the other kids, I was scared about not being able to understand them, and not sure how my culture would impact the way how I looked at things.
People say that parents are teachers of good and bad English. People also judge people on how they speak, whether the language is incorrect or just simply inappropriate. I think I had the best of both worlds with my parents.
Cantonese use widely in the south of China and is the language that most people use in the United State Chinatown. In China, there are about more than 80 dialects and more than 30 kinds of word. Mandarin is the official language, and Cantonese just one of the most usage dialects in Chinese. According to a news report in 2011, there are around 120 billion people speak Cantonese in all over the world, which included Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Macao, and the people who in the other countries like the United State, Canada, Singapore, and Malaysia etc. As an international student from Guangzhou, Cantonese is my first language and all my family members speak Cantonese as well. In this paper, I interviewed my father to answered
Studying in the United States means a big challenge for me since English is the main language while