All of the students began writing on their papers as soon as our teacher stopped talking. I was afraid to ask what to do because no one would understand me. I had to deal with this issue from 8 grade to 10″ grade. Being a native Spanish speaker was a big challenge to my education during my 8h grade until 10″h grade due to having very basic knowledge of English, struggle understanding my teachers, and insufficient lack of communication. I came to this country in December 2013; I joined the Pirate community just one month later. I started school at the second semester of 8″ grade. I had very basic English knowledge, therefore I had to learn English as soon as possible to do well at school. ESL, (English Second Language) is a class for Spanish speakers to get help with classes, and to learn English as a second language. I consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to attend this class until my junior year.
Over the years I have worked really hard to learn Engish in a variety of ways, such as watching movies in English, attending classes at night, and practicing at home. One obstacle in my education was the difficulty understanding my teachers. Since I couldn’t understand English at an average talking pace, most of the time I didn’t understand assignments, lectures, and exams. During class, I payed as much attention to the teacher asI could. I ignored other students disrupting class, l also ignored social media. Being an ESL student gave me many advantages. For instance, I was allowed to use my phone to translate papers, exams, and even speeches. Being able to use my phone to translate helped me understand my teachers. I was not the only bilingual student in most of my classes; therefore, teachers would allow me to sit close to other bilingual students to help me explain lectures and assignments. Doing this helped me to meet people and to socialize.
The biggest obstacle in my education was being unable to communicate. I was unable to talk and undersand any of the students in my classes. Socializing was very challenging, and became an insecurity since students would make fun of my accent. My ESL teacher suggest me to try night classes with my family. ESL night class was an amazing opportunity because it helped my mother and me gain a lot more knowledge of English. Another way I worked to fight my obstacle was by practicing English online at home every day. I practiced on websites such as Duolingo, Livemocha, and Babbel. Finally, Youtube has helped me learn, speak and understand enlgish. For instance, watching videos in English helped me to listen and understand. And singing to music videos in English helped me speak and have more control of my accent. Moving to a different country became a challenge to my education because of my lack of knowledge to the English language. Understanding my teachers during lectures was really difficult and challenging. Most importantly, being unable to communicate and socialize with students was the biggest obstacle to my education.
