By Yesica Mena
Guest Columnist
As kids, we usually adapt to new places and new people very easily. But even as kids, we still struggle to find that adaption in a completely different culture from the one we are used to. I was born in El Salvador; a very small country located in Central America compared to the United States. I came to America when I was about 12 years old. My English knowledge didn’t go any farther from “Hi, How are you?” and “thank you.” And to be honest, I didn’t know how to spell any of those words and let’s not talk about pronunciation. It was horrible. The hardest part for me was not moving to a bigger country with a completely different culture, but getting through that first day of school and all the coming days after that. No friends and no English, how hard can it be? Well, it’s a lot harder than what people think.
First of all, you feel lonely, out of place and scared. All the other kids point at you like if you were some kind of weird creature. I overcame those looks, made friends and by the end of three months I was attending regular classes with all the other kids. My English vocabulary increased very fast, and within a year I was actually forced to leave the ESL program. I didn’t want to, but my teacher made me because I was completely independent by then. When I got to high school, I noticed that it was harder for students to get out of the ESL program not because it was a harder program but because they were older and it wasn’t easy for them to absorb the new language. Some students were in ESL all four years in high school and still didn’t feel confident about their language.
Now, how hard do you think it is for college students who come from other countries where no English is spoken? It’s double the work. I’ve seen friends of mine struggle with classes because they don’t know the language very well. They have to look for extra help and put extra effort, finding other methods to do homework whether it’s with the help of a peer or searching in the web. I see some students typing their homework in Google for translation, so they are able to understand what is being asked for in the homework. The worst part is that sometimes the translation is not very good, and students end up doing a poor job on their homework. Because of their poor English skills, students also tend to have poor performance in class.
Over all, all these factors lead to poor grades. Fortunately, I came at to the United States at a young age and that helped me learn the language faster and probably better. I’m not an expert, everyone who has heard me speak can tell that I have an accent and my pronunciation is not always the best, but I have been able to succeed in school with no problems. Unfortunately, some college students do struggle a lot to keep those grades up, and I think they should be recognized for their hard work. Not knowing the language can be a huge barrier for a student to succeed in college. Next time you see someone struggling with homework or having a hard time understanding something, please offer your help. You never know, and that person might be facing a language barrier.
Guest Columnist
As kids, we usually adapt to new places and new people very easily. But even as kids, we still struggle to find that adaption in a completely different culture from the one we are used to. I was born in El Salvador; a very small country located in Central America compared to the United States. I came to America when I was about 12 years old. My English knowledge didn’t go any farther from “Hi, How are you?” and “thank you.” And to be honest, I didn’t know how to spell any of those words and let’s not talk about pronunciation. It was horrible. The hardest part for me was not moving to a bigger country with a completely different culture, but getting through that first day of school and all the coming days after that. No friends and no English, how hard can it be? Well, it’s a lot harder than what people think.
First of all, you feel lonely, out of place and scared. All the other kids point at you like if you were some kind of weird creature. I overcame those looks, made friends and by the end of three months I was attending regular classes with all the other kids. My English vocabulary increased very fast, and within a year I was actually forced to leave the ESL program. I didn’t want to, but my teacher made me because I was completely independent by then. When I got to high school, I noticed that it was harder for students to get out of the ESL program not because it was a harder program but because they were older and it wasn’t easy for them to absorb the new language. Some students were in ESL all four years in high school and still didn’t feel confident about their language.
Now, how hard do you think it is for college students who come from other countries where no English is spoken? It’s double the work. I’ve seen friends of mine struggle with classes because they don’t know the language very well. They have to look for extra help and put extra effort, finding other methods to do homework whether it’s with the help of a peer or searching in the web. I see some students typing their homework in Google for translation, so they are able to understand what is being asked for in the homework. The worst part is that sometimes the translation is not very good, and students end up doing a poor job on their homework. Because of their poor English skills, students also tend to have poor performance in class.
Over all, all these factors lead to poor grades. Fortunately, I came at to the United States at a young age and that helped me learn the language faster and probably better. I’m not an expert, everyone who has heard me speak can tell that I have an accent and my pronunciation is not always the best, but I have been able to succeed in school with no problems. Unfortunately, some college students do struggle a lot to keep those grades up, and I think they should be recognized for their hard work. Not knowing the language can be a huge barrier for a student to succeed in college. Next time you see someone struggling with homework or having a hard time understanding something, please offer your help. You never know, and that person might be facing a language barrier.