Alexander Lopez

ENGL 110

For as long as I remember I’ve been able to speak English, but there was a time that I remember I wasn’t able to speak english and I wasn’t able to communicate well with my peers. When I started pre-k at 4 years old, I wasn’t able to speak any English so communicating with my teacher was a challenge but at least there were always two teachers in the room so I would talk to the other teacher who was hispanic. Once pre-k ended and started elementary school, that language barrier was still there, but I would be taking bilingual classes which were one day all English class, and the next all Spanish classes which was the first and only language I knew. Of course the Spanish class wasn’t difficult for me because that was the only language I knew and understood so it wasn’t a surprise that I learned to read and write in Spanish first. And since I was progressing more in my spanish class than my english class just for the whole year in kindergarten I stayed only in the spanish class. And now when First grade began I was back in the bilingual class and of course being switched to just spanish did not make me learn english, even my mother came to school to speak to the teacher about why was I switched because my mom really wanted me to learn english, I remember her coming to the school cafeteria because we were all sitting down ready to be picked up and go home, this was before first grade began. Well into the year of first grade I don’t remember what month or day it was but it was the very first sentence I said in english to my english teacher her name was Ms. U. I was at table of 3 more people and we were all reading a book, I called my teacher over because I had to use the bathroom, and once I called her she was coming over and the closer she got the more and  more nervous I got in talking to her because this was going to be the very first time and the very first time me producing a sentence I wanted it to be perfect, so when she got to me I said in a shaky voice “Can I use the bathroom please.” My teacher smiled at me and said good job and with that I went to the bathroom and as I was on my way to the bathroom I couldn’t stop smiling because I finally spoke english. And after that moment I started learning to read and write in english, the first book I started practicing my reading on was with the three billy goats gruff, and I wrote a summary of that book which I was also nervous about because I wasn’t sure if I was writing the words correctly or that if Ms. U would be even able to understand it.