Imagine starting your life over by immigrating to a country with a totally different language and culture, after living in a communist society your whole childhood/teenage years. Once in the new country, it is necessary to re-learn an entirely different language and how this new society works in order to survive in this civilization. Khiem Pham was twenty-one years old when he immigrated from Vietnam to America, for more freedom, and to have a better chance at becoming successful in life. He came over without knowing a single word of English, causing him to have to go through many challenges to get to where he is today.
After Khiem Pham arrived in America, he had to enroll in adult ESL classes, as he was too old to go to high school. …show more content…
I shook my head and my hands because I didn't know what she was asking and how to answer it. I only knew how communicate with gestures," Khiem recalled, "It was as if I had eyes and a brain, but I was deaf and mute,".
Seeing that he didn't know any English, the teacher put Khiem at the first level out of five. Within a month or so, since he picked it up quickly, he got put into level two. This continued, and by the end of the year, he had mastered all of the levels. Because he finished all five levels in the ESL classes, the teacher suggested him to enroll in college. Khiem took the ESL teacher's advice, and registered for Palomar College.
In Palomar, he only studied mathematics and ESL. At first, the college put him in ESL level four. After the first season, he finished all of the ESL classes. By the second season, he got put into the regular English classes. After finishing all of the regular English classes Khiem transferred into university at California State University San …show more content…
Because of this, I asked the American guy sitting next to me if I could copy down what I missed. The guy looked over at me, gave me a dirty face, and covered his paper with his hands," Khiem stated.
While in university, he got his first job inside the school as an assistant technician in the computer lab. After two years at the university, Khiem graduated from CSUSM with a Bachelor's degree in mathematics and minored in computer science. He considers this as one of his biggest achievements, as he overcame his language barrier and successfully finished university with a degree.
When Khiem graduated from CSUSM, in year 2000, he applied for a job at two companies, NCR and PacketVideo. They both accepted him but he ended up choosing to work at NCR as a software test engineer. He has been working there ever since. In that very same year, Khiem also married Ngoc Duong and started a family. From then on, Khiem Pham has led a very happy life with his wife and three
After Khiem Pham arrived in America, he had to enroll in adult ESL classes, as he was too old to go to high school. …show more content…
I shook my head and my hands because I didn't know what she was asking and how to answer it. I only knew how communicate with gestures," Khiem recalled, "It was as if I had eyes and a brain, but I was deaf and mute,".
Seeing that he didn't know any English, the teacher put Khiem at the first level out of five. Within a month or so, since he picked it up quickly, he got put into level two. This continued, and by the end of the year, he had mastered all of the levels. Because he finished all five levels in the ESL classes, the teacher suggested him to enroll in college. Khiem took the ESL teacher's advice, and registered for Palomar College.
In Palomar, he only studied mathematics and ESL. At first, the college put him in ESL level four. After the first season, he finished all of the ESL classes. By the second season, he got put into the regular English classes. After finishing all of the regular English classes Khiem transferred into university at California State University San …show more content…
Because of this, I asked the American guy sitting next to me if I could copy down what I missed. The guy looked over at me, gave me a dirty face, and covered his paper with his hands," Khiem stated.
While in university, he got his first job inside the school as an assistant technician in the computer lab. After two years at the university, Khiem graduated from CSUSM with a Bachelor's degree in mathematics and minored in computer science. He considers this as one of his biggest achievements, as he overcame his language barrier and successfully finished university with a degree.
When Khiem graduated from CSUSM, in year 2000, he applied for a job at two companies, NCR and PacketVideo. They both accepted him but he ended up choosing to work at NCR as a software test engineer. He has been working there ever since. In that very same year, Khiem also married Ngoc Duong and started a family. From then on, Khiem Pham has led a very happy life with his wife and three