Like
many people, I was afraid to come to a new place and start from zero my entire
life. I came to the United States at the age of 16 from Colombia with just a
high school diploma and a strong soul that took me to where I am right now. It
was hard at first, I didn’t know how to ask questions or answer to people if they
would ask me something. So I decided to knock on doors and start talking with
those few words I knew from my past high school English classes (which were not
that good). After looking everywhere I finally found my first English class,
they were open harms who helped me to meet the basic skill I needed to get at
job and get into College. After several days I was able to have a conversation
with somebody but I wasn't happy with my progress, I could not and still can’t
pronounce a lot of the English words and I still have and accent which makes My
relationship with this new language not the best. There was a time when I did not
care about it, I started to speak more Spanish than English at home, school and
even at work, My fear to speak took me to a level where I couldn't say an English
word out loud without feeling upset of myself, but this all tough made me
realize that I would never progress in this country if I don't speak the language.
And then all those negative thoughts change when I started college and found
out an amazing thing. I wasn't the only one who just came from a different
country and who had an accent; there were even people who didn't speak English
at all. That’s how my way of see my life change and I started to go beyond my
own brain and start to involve myself in the new context of the English world. I
tough that things were going to be easy when I came to the country where dreams
come true but they weren’t, I had to make it through a lot of thing that made
me stronger day by day and proud of myself because I never thought that I could
be in another part of the world learning a new culture and language way
different from mines.
I'm glad that all this situations happened, Now I don’t
mind if I have and accent or not, because that's my sign saying that I'm
different from others. Life will never be perfect for some of us and the fact
that having an accent or not knowing a language is not an obstacle in this
country to success however you want.
Hi, Mindrys,
ReplyDeleteHopefully, now you know that EVERYONE has an accent! Yours in English is just more interesting than a lot native speakers. :-)
It's great to learn that others have the same or similar struggles as you, isn't it? I loved the line, "That’s how my way of see my life change and I started to go beyond my own brain and start to involve myself in the new context of the English world." I wonder how you began to involve yourself--what is the "English world" for you? I'd love to read more about that through your eyes. And the more you read and write, speak and listen, of course, the more you'll improve!
I'm curious to know more about what you mean also by, "Life will never be perfect for some of us and the fact that having an accent or not knowing a language is not an obstacle in this country to success however you want." How will you define success...? To be continued...
Hi Mindrys! I enjoyed reading your blog about how you came from Colombia and basically had to start life over in a completely new country without knowing the language or culture. Most of my friends are from Colombia, and I must say you guys are awesome! What part of Colombia are you from? What was the most different thing about adjusting to the American culture? Did you move by yourself or with family? Also I think accents are wonderful, my boyfriend was born and raised in Honduras and he speaks with an accent, which I think makes him all the more unique and interesting. When you said you knocked on doors, what did you mean exactly? Just because I love Salsa and Latin music in general, I'm curious if you've found yourself completely separated from Colombian life or if you still find ways to connect to your home country?
ReplyDelete-Daniele
We want to say thanks for you sharing. When we read your language story, we got same feeling with you. We also have similar experience. Now we are in ESL class, we must struggle with a new language. During this period, it is hard to find a correct way to learn second language. In our class, we practice our writing skill and grammar skill. After reading your article, we learn some experiences from you. For example, you got over your accent obstacle and success to communicate with English speaker. As a result, we think we should not be afraid of our strange accent then practice our speaking more and more. We hope we can be as brave as you.
ReplyDeleteThank you! We are Tzuying, Jican and Shufen.