What I Learned In My ESL Classroom

Moving from a country to another is already hard enough. Having to adapt and even learn a new language makes it twice as difficult. This is something that a lot of people in the United States have to deal with, myself included.
I moved from El Salvador when I was nine years old. I had to get accustomed to practically a new way of living. I had to get used to a new culture and a new way of communicating. I started fourth grade here and I was put in an ESL class. My first year in school wasn’t as bad as it could have been. My ESL teacher spoke perfect Spanish, which meant I didn’t have to worry so much because if there was ever a time in which I was unable to say what I needed to say in English, I could just say it in Spanish. I felt secure. …show more content…
One day my class had an incident with my gym teacher and there was a huge controversy on who was telling the truth and who wasn’t. The following day our homeroom teacher heard about it and confronted the class. He called on some people to explain what happened and everyone said the exact same thing. He was still not satisfied, he wanted to hear from someone he thought would be trustworthy and honest. He figured I was the person he wanted to hear the story from. He knew my English wasn’t perfect but he still went ahead and asked me to try, in front of everyone. I tried my hardest to explain what happened but the fact I was extremely nervous and that my vocabulary was limited, enabled me from making any sense. It was one of the most embarrassing school experiences I have had to deal with. As I was speaking, I remember hearing students laughing and saying things like “what is she saying?”. At that moment I just wanted to cry and hide under a rock. I was also furious with my teacher for making me have to deal with something as traumatizing as that. I realize now that he didn’t mean to do any harm but this experience still scarred