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Literacy Autobiography

Name Robbie Chenyu Wang

Class English 093/101

Date 4/08/2019

"Beep-beep-beep, beep-beep-beep". The alarm clock is cruelly dragging me out of my bed; my eyes are still fighting with the sunshine in September, and my lips are tightly hugging each other. However, I eagerly jump out of the bed and get ready for my new day. This is my first day of school in the United States. And needless to say, I was more than excited to meet new people and start the next chapter in my life.

Back to those days when I was in elementary and middle school, I was lacking of the motivation to learn new foreign languages due to it's not the way like I learn my mother language before, which means I have no good reasons to learn a foreign language. At that time, I hadn't imagined how English will impact my life. Until my family decides to send me to the US.

The first task, also the first difficulty about reaching the US is I have to study how to communicate with local people. That's why I choose to stay in an international school in China. All the teachers are foreign, and they talk in English. I tried to adopt that language zone but it's really hard for me. I was too shy to ask them questions because of my poor English. When they talked to me, I always try to use the simplest words to answer him like: "yes"," ok", "alright" etc. I lost many opportunities, which can improve my English skill because I never want to be embarrassed. However, the good thing is I made many friends and hang out with them, so I learned simply English dialogue from them. Those happy days will be forever embedded in my memory.

After I made those friends, I'm more likely to ready to put myself in a potentially embarrassing situation. It means a willingness to make mistakes because when I have some mistakes such as tones, pronunciation and grammar, my friends would help me and I'm not alone to solve those problems. I shout out to all the friends who help me through the hardest time learning English. At that time, I also met my best my teacher Mrs. Tracy in my whole life. She was strict but kind, tender-heart. She always used some interesting ways to make us motivated in learning English. I really appreciate for the whole year she taught me.

Eventually, I felt more confident and ready to go to the US. Unfortunately, on my first day of school in the United States, I ran into second troubles when I had been here. It's not every local people have enough patience for my imperfect English. That's why I was afraid of making American friends right here, even hard to communicate with them. Every time when I needed to communicate with someone, my brain simply functioned like an old truck: slow and outdated. The words got stuck inside the traffic jams of my head. However, I am an outgoing person, and I eagerly wanted to make new friends here with everyone; unfortunately, the language became an invisible barrier blocking me from the outside world. Obviously, I was disappointed with myself and I enthusiastically wanted to change my situation. In addition, I cannot live by myself. Go to the supermarket, go to the office ask something, buy foods all need me to speak. Therefore, I have to follow my friend everywhere because I need her help when I talk to other people. My poor English is really an inconvenient thing and makes some trouble for my friend. At the beginning of my American life, I hate my bad English and less courage in communication.

After inquiring about my college friends, I heard that watching movies is the fastest way to help people improve their language skills. So I started watching American movies as much as possible. In the beginning, I still couldn't follow the speed of the movie. Just like the baby first learned to walk; clumsy and slow. During the movies, I realized that my English ability is improving very well in both listening and speaking.

In my personal experience, classroom materials are very easy. However, trying to communicate with other students in the class is the hardest part. Everyone I met tried to stay friendly, but I can say that they are just trying to be nice to new people. I can hear them snickering and talking about me. When I walked through the corridor, I could feel their laughter. Until I met a student on a group project. When he saw my name and heard my accent, he asked me where I came from. He seems to be interested in my past, actually treating me like a normal person. After that, my English conversation ability is gradually improving with this friend who treats me like a normal person. In the past few years, I have learned that the quickest way to learn a language is not to study hard and to attend classes, but to integrate into their society and culture, just like watching their movies and having physical contact with their people.

In the past almost one years in the United States, language has clearly been the biggest challenge for me. However, I fully understand that I must overcome difficulties so that I can succeed in the future. In retrospect, I realized that it takes a lot of courage to make friends with me from the beginning. It is not easy to consider helping someone with a language barrier. In particular, you don't know him very well. So I am grateful to my friends who really helped me improve my English skills. I am very happy that I made this decision. I understand what’s no struggle no gain means. And I will never give up.