The English in My Life - Essay Example

 The English in My Life English is my second language, I cannot brag having a complete know how of the language. I cannot offer anyone more than an opinion in relation to English as a language and its disparities among diverse cultures. I can truly state that I have never loved writing. I have spent most of my time jotting down notes in my notebook. My writing is inspired by the mockery from my classmates in my school, ninth grade. My classmates who had English as their first language mocked me for my “terrible” English. They were very fluent in expressing their feelings. On one occasion, I asked to the teacher, "I was want to learn how was a conjunction’s used for a sentences". In my question to the teacher, I was inquiring on how a conjunction should be used in a sentence. When my classmates heard my sentence, they laughed at me and mocked me for my "terrible" English. My teacher as well had a very hard time understanding what I meant. It stressed me so much that everyone in my class laughed at and mocked me for my language. I thereafter had a very hard time communicating with anyone in my class and the entire school. It was one of my worst encounter in my first school in the United States. The mocking by my classmates and schoolmates continued which caused me to hate school. After a semester at this school where I endured ill treatment by my fellow students, I developed a bad attitude towards English school and almost never wanted to wake up in the morning. My father being a disciplinarian always woke me up with an authoritative voice after my mother could not manage to. In fear of my authoritative father, I would wake up and hastily rush to school. I was afraid to say that I was not happy at the school because I was terrified by my parent’s faces on receipt of such news. At the end of that fateful semester, all my grades dropped drastically. I scored an F in English as well as in Mathematics, which was my best subject. My parent were very disappointed in me that they went to see my class teacher about my dropped grades. With time, they got to understand my problem in school and they transferred me to a different school in the next semester. They also encouraged me and my interest in school grew. I was more determined to improve my spoken English. I developed so much interest in writing, reading and speaking English. At the initial stages, my language was bad, but not as my parent’s was. My parent's English was "terrible" English. My mother would tell her employer, “Come work tomorrow will not sick my children.” By her statement, she had meant that she would not manage to work the next day because her child was sick. Many were times when she would complain about her boss when she came home. Her boss would disallow her to miss work. Later on, after I learnt good English, I came to realize that, probably her language had made her not to be well understood by the fluent English speakers, including her boss. One day my father had told the landlord, “Go away. No money, go. Don’t come tomorrow!” My father’s statement to the landlord was meant in a polite way to mean that he did not have any money. He asked the landlord to come the next day to collect the rent. We as his family understood very well what he meant. We use a similar language at home as we all train to speak English. The landlord was so disappointed that he served my family with a notice to vacate the house in the next month. My parent’s use of direct translation of our mother tongue caused us so much trouble. We moved from one house to on other regularly until I was able to speak on behalf of my parent. This started when I was sixteen years. I was not so fluent a speaker, but I was better than they were. When I was sent to the other school, I developed much interest in learning English. My interest in learning English led me to pay more attention to my English. My teacher tutored me in the evening after classes and gave me writing assignments. Being in a new environment away from criticism, my grades in English improved from an F to a D then to a C. It is my belief that I was subconsciously trying to prove to my parent, former schoolmates and to myself that I could be better in English. My seatmate in my previous junior school had previously told me that I would have never managed a grade D in English. This had always disturbed me since then. I kept pushing to improve my English. I met my 9th grade seatmate in a restaurant a month ago. She was amazed by how much my English had improved after we had a short chat. Knowing more fluent English had boosted my confidence. I started assisting my parent when it came to speaking to the landlord(s). As a result of my good communication, our current landlord has been able to understand that my parent are good people. My father had told him on one occasion, “paying not! Today not! Tomorrow not! Waiting yes!” then mother interrupted father and added, “Staying house yes.” He was very infuriated by the words of my parent that he sent us a vacation notice. At that instance I was not at home but I got back in the house later on. Father had grown to trust that I was the best endowed in English in the family, he gave me the notice to read. On seeing its contents, I knew something had enraged the landlord. I went to him and explained what my parent meant. Mother was expecting her salary in a week’s time and they meant that they would have settled the rent after a week. I explained to him how English is a big challenge to them and I would be negotiating on their behalf to avoid any other such instances. Although I do not have a passion for writing, the circumstances around me forced me to learn English. To be able to live and work comfortably with the English-speaking majority, learning fluent English is paramount and I was not willing to disappoint my parents or myself. Works Cited Tan, Amy. Mother Tongue. 2014. Online Read More