This is my story of when I felt that I lived between two worlds. My parents are from Albania, but I was born in New York and lived here for all my life. Growing up, I was learning how to speak English and Albanian at the same time, which caused problems for me when I attended school because I would subconsciously mix English and Albanian when I spoke. When I did that, the other students would make fun of me and told me that I did not belong here in this country. My speech got to the point where the school decided that I needed to go to the school speech and OT program to help me fix my speaking problem. After a couple of years, my speaking problem improved, but that same year was the first time I could go to my parent’s home country and see the family I have over there and explore the area we were in.
I soon realized that the kids over there did the same thing as the kids here, telling me that I did not belong in their country and side you Americans need to go back to your own country. After my trip to Albanian, I made some friends who didn’t care that I had speech problems. With their help, I learned to ignore the people who tried to make fun of me or tried to tell me “to go back to your country.” I also got into the habit of saying thank you to the people who tried to offend me just to frustrate them. I’m now more comfortable with who i am and my family background. I also no longer worry or care for what others think of me.
Hey Chris I really liked your paragraphs. I’m also from Albania and I also got treated a similary when first going there. Glad you were able to overcome your conflict of people making fun of you because you spoke a certain way.
Your situation was kind of close to mine. When I went to my country I was made fun of the way I spoke and they said I was not from there. And the way you recover from this is amazing also
GOOD!
NOW create more scenes and dialogue to make this STORY come alive:
This is my story of when I felt that I lived between two worlds. My parents are from Albania, but I was born in New York and lived here for all my life. Growing up, I was learning how to speak English and Albanian at the same time, which caused problems for me when I attended school because I would subconsciously mix English and Albanian when I spoke. When I did that, the other students would make fun of me and told me that I did not belong here in this country. [GOOD PLACE TO CREATE A SCENE – Don’t just tell me. SHOW ME. WHAT DID YOU say in Albanian or in English? How did the words sound? Use the Albanian words if it helps to create the scene. WHAT did the kids say to you? HOW did you react? Where were you ion the classroom? Cafeteria? SHOW ME!] My speech got to the point where the school decided that I needed to go to the school speech and OT program to help me fix my speaking problem.
{NEW PAR} After a couple of years, my speaking problem improved, but that same year was the first time I could go to my parent’s home country and see the family I have over there and explore the area we were in.
I soon realized that the kids over there did the same thing as the kids here, telling me that I did not belong in their country and side you Americans need to go back to your own country. [SCENE of you as a kid in Albania: Show me WHAT the kids said and HOW you reacted and WHERE was this? street? Grandma’s house? Cousin’s house?]
After my trip to Albanian, I made some friends who didn’t care that I had speech problems. With their help, I learned to ignore the people who tried to make fun of me or tried to tell me “to go back to your country.” I also got into the habit of saying thank you {SHOW me this scene and the look on their frustrated face} to the people who tried to offend me just to frustrate them. I’m now more comfortable with who i am and my family background. I also no longer worry or care for what others think of me.
AND Finally what have you learned about yourself, society, and how has this shaped your journey as a student, a learner?