Every person who was able to go to school has their own perspective on the school system. Personally, I find that the school system needs some improvement. There were many incidents that occurred to me growing up that changed my perspective on what school is. I did not speak much English during my early years in school. It really made a difference in the way that people would see me. Obviously, I was different from the other children but even teachers would see me in a different way. Trying to learn a language in a school is one of the hardest things you can do and it will show you how fortunate those whose first language was English were.
I grew up in a Spanish speaking household. You see, my parents are from Ecuador and they migrated here when they were in their 30’s. They wanted to give their children a better life. They adapted quickly and were able to learn enough English to survive but coming home from a long day of speaking English, they wanted to speak their native tongue at home. This is why Spanish was my first ever language. I don’t remember that far back but I’m sure that I had no problem not knowing English. Things soon changed when I started elementary school.
Obviously going to school on the first day is going to be hard for an introverted person like myself. On top of that, it’s not like I was able to go up and talk to anyone because I had no clue what anyone was saying. My mother told me that I would sit down and cry because she had to leave and I was scared. I can’t blame myself for being scared, imagine being put into a room with strangers speaking a language you have never seen before. It would be like being abducted by aliens! It was a real struggle, they even told my parents that if I did not catch on to English that I would be put into an ESL class. They made is seem like it would be a punishment and that it was something unusual and bad. So obviously my parents did not want them to put me in an ESL class. Although, as I got used to being left alone with people, I had no choice but to learn English and that is exactly what I started doing.
Middle school is when kids start to get mean and teachers stop treating you nicely. As a Hispanic kid that did not speak much English that went to a black and white dominated school, I did not fit in with anyone. I was always the weird one out and no one really wanted to talk to me, they always wanted to talk about me. I hated going to school and I would try and tell teachers about it but they mostly just ignored it. I saw going to school as a tedious chore and it was something that really impacted my mental health at a young age. I remember this one time where me and one of my few friends were using our phones in class and we both got it taken away. The teacher told us to come after school ended to pick our phones up. When we went there, she went on and on about how we should be “paying attention in class” but I won’t forget how she looked straight at me and said, “I hope you can understand what I’m saying”. I shook my head so innocently and said “yes miss” in my heavy Spanish accent. Looking back on what she said… it makes me upset, teachers are here to help you, be nice, and support you. Not make you feel like you have a learning disability. Needless to say, middle school was not too nice to me.
Graduating middle school was one of the greatest moments of my life. My parents were so proud and I was finally going to a new school with new people. During this time, I was an expert at English. Obviously with some improvements are needed here and there but let’s be honest who doesn’t need improvements in their language. I was able to make friends easier and I felt like I was a part of a nice high school community. The high school treated me like how my middle school should have treated me. It’s upsetting because my experience is different because of my language. I can speak English now fluently. Though, I can’t help but think about all the people who don’t have the same blessing that I do. Are they struggling? Are they okay? Do they need a friend to help them? See… school in America is designed in a way for a student who knows English by default. Obviously, changes have been made over time but it’s still the same case to this day. It’s not made for people of different languages. It’s made for English speakers and it’s upsetting.
Learning a new language in a new school is a very hard task to do. It should not be this hard, we should be supported more and have more help towards learning English in an easy way. It’s not just the learning that we need help with, it’s the environment that is placed for us that needs to be changed. We shouldn’t be treated differently just because we have a little setback and we didn’t have the opportunity to learn English as our first language.
