Analyzing Sasha's Essay A Way With Words

As a child I have always loved English and wanted to excel and impress others. I loved to write short stories and would read for several hours. I would spend several consecutive hours reading books to impress

I started watching English news, movies, read magazines, read all sort of English related book like, “English learning For Dummies” and suf internet for online English Tutor. Having a ELL teacher help me through my hard time helping me to learn English and doing good in school. After knowing how to speak and communicate in less than 2 months my life had become much easier. Now I am being able to communicate with people not that fluent as then can but try my best to speaks fluent as them and be able to make new friends. Also I am a helping hand to my parents as they do not know how to speak English. My sister help me a lot because she was older then me and was better than me in English so she help me through my study . Now slowly adapting the American style of living in some aspect of my life. English was a very challenging language and I had a very difficult time learning it, however, my hard work did pay off when by the end of first quarter my GPA was

The first and second year after moving from China to the United States, I was afraid to talk to strangers because my English was not quite well. I had to depend on my husband to deal with my personal business, such as making a doctor’s appointment, calling to the bank, or questioning the DMV officers. Douglass says, “being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (62). Being a dependent and helpless adult is a shame for me. In addition, I did not have extra money to go to school to improve my English skills. Thus, I stayed home all the time to avoid the embarrassment that happened when I did not understand strangers’ conversation. Meanwhile, being silent at home leaded worries to my future. I realized that I had to improve my oral English to gain self-confidence. I spent time reading various articles on the internet, and I watched English dialogues’ videos on YouTube. As a non-English speaking immigrant living in the U.S., I challenged myself to overcome difficulties to integrate myself into a new

After so many incidents, I was determined to learn this foreign language and prove to people that I wasn’t not lost in this country. Every day afterschool I would ask my family to help me with my English. One year later, I was able to understand what people around me were saying, and I could do basic communications with people. School came to me as an enjoying part of my day, something I looked forward to when going to bed, and an opportunity, a gift for me to learn the language of this new country.

Even though narrator from “Only Daughter” had a very dismissive and strained relationship with her father (Due to her being the only female in a group of 6.) Though, she aspired to be talented writer because of this, because no one else cared. She was going to MAKE people care one way or another. She successfully woos her father with her newest novel. Finally achieving that sense of personal fulfillment she was isolated from in younger years. Narrator from “Mother Tongue” took the role as personal translator for her mother. It gave her somewhat of a sense similar to personal fulfillment. She eventually taught herself the different ways of English. Now, she can help her mother even more when needed. A common pattern in familial relationships are when the parent just does not care. Then, the children take it upon themselves to shock everyone. I can relate to this sort of action. There used to be a point in my life where whatever I learned or thought was an incredible feat ended up dismissed by my parents. No one cared, no one listened. It was very disappointing and I felt like I was wasting my time. Until, I honed my talent. Then, people started noticing. They started caring. I especially garnered attention from my parents, which gave me the utmost sense of fulfillment. Somewhat like narrator from “Only Daughter”

Throughout my childhood, the idea of having a college education was greatly stressed. As a result, it was my duty as the next generational child, to excel in my studies and achieve a life of prosperity and success. Learning became the basic foundation of my growth. Therefore, my youth was overtaken by many hours spent reading and writing what was known to be correct "Standard" English. I first found this to be a great shortcoming, but as I grew older, I began to realize the many rewards acquired by having the ability to be literate.

Like Amy Tan and her mother, I also was not a natural-born citizen of the USA. I, too, had parents who had their own way of speaking and understanding the English language. Tan’s personal stories are very similar to mine; they remind me of my very own memories with my parents, who are both bright and intelligent individuals. I was my parents' translator for as long as I can remember. Amy Tan states that “like others, I have described it to people as 'broken' or 'fractured' English" (Tan, 181). Having to constantly be

Throughout my childhood, the idea of having a college education was greatly stressed. As a result, it was my duty as the next generational child, to excel in my studies and achieve a life of prosperity and success. Learning became the basic foundation of my growth. Therefore, my youth was overtaken by many hours spent reading and writing what was known to be correct "Standard" English. I first found this to be a great shortcoming, but as I grew older, I began to realize the many rewards acquired by having the ability to be literate.

I watched my mom somehow get 2 jobs and go back to school to provide for my family and to also learn english. I learned a lot of English by watching movies before attending school in America , but still had difficulty talking to my peers and them understanding me. That did not stop me from challenging my self and bettering my english. Though out the years I now realize that here

Coming from a foreign country where english is a second language, I didn’t know how to communicate. How was I going understand the information in school? How will I create new friendships without speaking? All these questions plagued me. As I sat quietly everyday trying to avoid making a sound, hoping not to get called on to answer a question or speak out loud in the class, I was trying to make clear of what these people were saying. I realized that just sitting there and listening wouldn't help me better speak English; I had begun trying to speak english with my father so I can become more fluent. After months of dedication, I was understanding and speaking a language completely different to mine. That was by far the most difficult

Learning English seemed impossible; I felt I would never be able to understand or speak it, but I was determined to learn the language and get

The things we learn from our family plays a huge role in how we do in school. In the article “Sponsors of Literacy,” Deborah Brandt says sponsors are “agents” who teaches and enables our literacy capacity. In this article Tan identifies her mother as her sponsor of English. Even though she herself describes her mother’s English as “broken,”

Although the narrator’s parents are keeping him from learning or speaking their native languages, which is what most of his family members speak, in order to stabilize his English proficiency, there are many negative effects of doing so. The narrator constantly feels

the day and English at night, but my transition was harder due to my poor foundations of the English language. I now had to speak, write, and read in English, when I preferred my native language, Spanish. Immaculate Heart Elementary School provided a tutor to help me read from the textbooks in my third grade class. I had difficulty communicating with the teacher and classmates. I felt embarrassed for not understanding English, and sad knowing that it was hard to speak with my Spanish accent. Even though I was placed in such an unfamiliar and difficult situation, I enjoyed the educational atmosphere. I felt safer in an environment where I had some individual attention. I began to write essays about various social studies related topics such as the 41st President of the United States and the Statue of Liberty. I recall spending a lot of my time thinking about the ideas I should mention in those essays, but I spent even more time trying to get those thoughts on lined paper. I wondered whether I was saying things the correct way. I felt behind compared to the other student in my class. I didn?t know the basics of grammar, like when to use ?is? and not ?are?, when everyone else had mastered that area of study. I struggled thinking in Spanish and

It has been 10 years since I started learning English. During these 10 years, I have been taught by many English teachers, and all of them helped me a lot in learning English. However, I think my elementary school English teacher, Mrs. Huang, helped me the most on my language development. She helped me start learning English and introduced the basic rules of English to me. Moreover, she motivated my interest in learning English.