I had to learn a new language. I had to go to school even though I didn’t understand. When the teacher would call on me some of the other kids in my class would translate. I had to take E.S.L. I remember they would tell me to watch TV in English. Learning a new language and getting used to a new place was difficult. Since I had enter school at the end of third grade I thought I was going to repeat third grade but with help of new friends and my cousin I passed to fourth grade.
Me passing to fourth grade was a surprise to me and many people because I had been here for so little time. In summer I would go play outside with other kids from my building and street even though it was a dangerous street with gang violence and all kind of other stuff , when I was outside kids would mostly talk in English so they would have to translate and tell me what they were saying. Summer vacation was only two months and by the ending of the first month when playing outside when they were going to translate what they were saying but I stopped them because I understood what they said they were kind of shocked but little did they know I had been understanding. The next day we were looking for a girl at her house and they asked me something and I replied to them in English they were even more shock, ever since that I became more confident and started talking more in English.
In the beginning of fourth grade I was still enrolled in E.S.L. My fourth grade teacher, Mr.O told me he was amazed of how I learned English in such little time, he gave me some type of award and told me I had passed all of E.S.L. when normally other kids would take years to pass it but it only took me a couple of months. I was