LEARNING ENGLISH

I was 18 when I came to the United States. I knew enough English to greet people and to ask for some items in the grocery store, but I soon discovered that my English wasn’t enough to actually understand what people were saying to me especially when they spoke fast, and everyone spoke fast. The city I lived in was not diverse. They had either brown or white people. The brown people spoke Spanish and the white people spoke English. Everyone expected me to understand English. Often, I would make people angry because I just looked at them and would not answer. Sometimes, they would call me names and scream at me. I was desperate to learn English but just learning words was not enough. I needed to understand what people meant when they spoke. That was the most difficult part of learning English. Now that I am an ESL teacher, I make sure I never assume that my students understand everything they hear. English is difficult!

Mrs. Alfred (Attisso)

Bilingual Teacher

My dream has always been to go to America and become a citizen. For five years, my family prepared to move to the USA. When I arrived, I was 17 years old. I enrolled in high school to learn English and improve my reading, speaking, writing, and listening skills. Every year I improved and obtained more knowledge and learned about cultural differences from my teachers. They are always trying to teach me how to understand and how to pronounce words. Practice is important to learn English. You can improve by watching videos or by communicating with each other, but it is better to have your teacher help you and give you tips on how to speak English and improve your pronunciation. Finally, “If you really want to get advanced in English, you must persevere and practice!”