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ESOL Level 7
Improving My Life with English
When I was a kid, I was always dreaming about going to the US, but when I met my husband and I knew that I was going to the US, I was afraid to go because of my poor English. I did study a little English in my country, but I wasn't comfortable with it. So when I got to the US, the first thing I did was register for English classes. In the beginning, I was very lonely without any friends because of my English, and I didn't have confidence in myself when I was talking to people. All these things led me to learn English. There are three main reasons that caused me to take English classes: making friends, completing a degree, and increasing my self confidence.
The first reason that I chose to learn English was making friends. When I first came to the US, I didn’t have any friends because I didn’t speak enough English. I need friends, so I can have some emotional support. For example, when I was in Libya, I had a lot of friends who called me when I was sick or sad. In addition, I need friends to feel less lonely. For example, when I was pregnant, I felt very alone without my friends and family. Also, I need friends to have fun with such as going shopping together, going to movies, and traveling together. Everyone needs a social life to improve their mental health, and these are some points that made me want to improve myself in English.
The second reason that I chose to learn English was completing a degree. For example, when I came to the US in 2014, I tried to apply for many kinds of jobs, but with my English, I couldn’t find any job. Knowing English would help me show my skills better. After that, I started planning to improve my education, so I can find a better job with a nice opportunity in the future. For example, I have always dreamt about having a job in the medical field because it pays well, and I can improve my life. So I encouraged myself to start working on my dream to complete a degree, so I can accomplish something important.
The third reason that I chose to learn English was increasing my self confidence. For example, when I needed to make a doctor’s appointment, I had to call in an interpreter to help me understand because of my poor English, which was inconvenient for me because sometimes I needed privacy. In my culture, women don’t discuss certain topics about the body with men, and sometimes the interpreter was a man. Also, I can remember one day when I was invited to a party, and one of my friends tried to make fun of me because of my poor English. I felt fearful and unconfident. All these things encouraged me to start learning English and improve myself so I can feel fearless and more confident.
There are three primary factors that caused me to take English classes: making friends, completing a degree, and increasing my self confidence. My bad experiences led me to start learning English so that I can make friends and not feel lonely anymore. Also, I want to follow my dream of completing my education, so I can improve my life skills. As well as, to improve my self-confidence, so I don’t fear anything. Finally, learning English is not always easy, but with dreams and support, I have discovered that nothing can stop me if I work hard to achieve my goals.
Written by: Niroz Shrif
Increment of Water Waste
The U.S. water waste is so high. It is important to remember that wasting water can lead to a disastrous and unsolved problem in the future. An example of it, the lack of clean water will make it harder to get purified water. However, starting to take care and saving water not only will increase the probability of having uncontaminated water, but also result in a long period of sweet water instead of having saline water in the hand. Even though the waste of water is a big issue and getting out of hand in the United States, there are many ways for people to conserve, economize or avoid the waste of H2O.
Every year, the issue of the waste of water increases. Many people don’t realize the consequence of excessive use of water. Every generation forgets to put in their mind the big problem of wasting water that can affect the environment. According to the United Nations, “Water pollution is increasing throughout the water cycle. Due to population growth, accelerated urbanization and economic development, the quantity of wastewater being generated and its overall pollution load are increasing globally.” For this reason, American people should preserve water even more when society rises, before it is too late to protect the environment and surrounding of our future generations.
One way that people can economize water is to know the right time and amount of water to use. For example, watering plants seems easy to do, but it is harder to save water because you don't know how much water you are wasting while doing it. To demonstrate this point the website Sacramento Suburban Water District gives us a couple of examples how the water is wasted and to prevent wasting water, and one of them is, “6. Not using soaker hoses or drip irrigation in flower beds which can save up to 50% of water used compared to sprinklers.” As you can see, this is a good way to decrease the amount of water to not be wasted. Motivating people to practice this will make a big difference and impact radically in the environment.
Another way to conserve water or avoid the high waste of water is to get in the habit of using less water while taking beauty care. Can you imagine saving plenty of water daily or yearly? EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) states that “Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth can save 8 gallons of water per day and, while shaving, can save 10 gallons of water per shave. Assuming you brush your teeth twice daily and shave 5 times per week, you could save nearly 5,700 gallons per year.” This website argues that using methods to save water isn’t complex or so difficult. Also, it helps to protect the water being wasted. In addition, it gives us an approximate amount of what we can be saving during a certain time. Each step smaller or bigger we take can make a difference.
In brief, people who live in the U.S. can consume less water or reduce spending water in multiple ways to fix the problem of water waste. Although these are not the only ways to limit the use of water in our lives when it is not needed, you can look up online more ways to economize water. It is clear that we have to make sure to use less water, so that we will not have a lack of water someday.
Written by: Claudia Andres-Francisco
Homelessness in Portland
According to the January 2022 Point in Time Count, approximately 582,500 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. 17,959 people were homeless on a given night in Oregon and more than 6297 of them were in the Portland area. Although these numbers were roughly counted, they indicate the deeply entrenched problem in society. Since the economy went through considerable trauma due to the unprecedented health crisis of COVID-19, every individual is experiencing the impacts of economic instability, which is the major factor in the escalation of homelessness. The homeless crisis in Portland has a range of significant effects on the city and its residents. The key effects include safety and security issues, economic impact, and the living situation of the individuals who are suffering from homelessness.
First of all, homelessness leads to safety and security issues. According to a recent City of Portland survey, more than 60% of those living east of I-205 in Portland said they did not feel safe walking in their neighborhood at night. All people who participated in this survey agreed that they felt unsafe walking at night in downtown Portland. Portland’s downtown had been a good place for walking before the pandemic since it is beautiful and attractive, but now people feel insecure when encountering homelessness. However, some homeless individuals are ordinary people forced into homelessness by rising housing costs and the dismal job market. Others struggle with mental illness, chronic health issues, physical disabilities, or drug addiction, which can lead to crimes such as attacking random pedestrians, abusing public facilities, or breaking car windows to steal personal valuable items. Consequently, the tension among involved individuals in the community has become increasingly intense.
Meanwhile, the homeless crisis impacts the economy. The economic instability caused by the pandemic puts small businesses in a dilemma. Customers have been gradually decreasing because of safety concerns since the homeless population increased around small businesses such as restaurants. This led to either a reduction in the workforce or transformations for the enterprises to survive and avoid bankruptcy. However, many of them could not withstand these challenges and eventually went out of business. A popular Chinese rice noodles restaurant, Qiao Noodle House, located in Northeast Portland, closed during the pandemic. This has caused a decline in job opportunities. At the same time, the cost of living has risen, including expenses like rent, groceries, child care, gasoline, and more. As a consequence of these factors, people are being pushed into homelessness. Furthermore, addressing homelessness requires significant financial support from homeless services, which can make this desperate situation even worse. Being aware of this vicious cycle urges the solution to be put into practice.
Last but not least, individuals experiencing homelessness deal with daily challenges related to safety, mental and physical health, basic daily needs, and even survival. Safety is the primary concern faced by homeless people, especially those living in environments with drug addiction, violence, and even gun shootings. Scott Kerman, the Executive Director of Blanchet House, a non-profit organization located in Portland’s Old Town, said “Women come to us for a meal, and we see the fresh bruises and black eyes because they've been beaten up overnight. Or maybe worse.” On the other hand, shelter and food shortages, lack of disease prevention, limited access to healthcare, and mental support services have become the pressing issues that homeless people are dealing with everyday. What they are suffering from, such as living in extreme weather without shelter, experiencing starvation, facing health problems, and enduring discrimination, constitutes a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Without a doubt, homelessness has significant impacts on Portland communities. It causes safety and security concerns and also drags down the economy. Meanwhile, the direct effect of the homeless crisis is on the individuals experiencing homelessness. Addressing this complex and thorny problem requires sustained commitment and empathy from both the government and the community. Multifaceted solutions, which focus on housing, food, healthcare, and support services, are essential to providing a pathway out of homelessness, helping individuals rebuild their lives, and eventually mitigating the far-reaching effects.
Written by: Jing Guo
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