Personal Narrative: My Experience With A Language Barrier

My experience with a language barrier was the most difficult, clear and present danger of my first year at an American high school. There was a huge difference between what I expected my experience would be and reality. At my American school, I understood a good amount of what was happening, but hardly everything, because I was not comfortable with the quick tempo that teachers spoke in. To be honest, sitting in my classroom for a lesson for the first time was also the first time I had heard so much English! Every day I found myself guessing my teacher’s meaning about the content or assignments, and when it came time for a group discussion, I was afraid to talk about my opinions because I thought that maybe I spoke weird English.

During this time I realized that I was totally sealing myself off from the outside world, and as a result, my grades were much worse and I made no friends at my school. I felt I was in the end of the world, an

I began to watch movies to entertain myself and there was always something new that I learned from each movie. I figured that life was a gift and I didn’t intend on wasting mine. From the movies I learned that in life you never know what hand you’re going to be dealt next. I learned to take life as it came at me. I started to ask myself if this was the life I chose to live in America and I wondered if I should try and walk out of my comfort zone.

I began talking to my teachers about our classes and asked question upon question everyday after school. I joined soccer and cross-country teams to be more social. When I really opened myself to people I realized that people were helpful and willing to listen. I smiled more than before and then I really started to experience this different culture! The biggest reward for my change is that I was actually accepted into the National Honor Society. This honor was huge for me in confirming the value of the things I’ve done to make myself