Literacy Narrative Essay Example

USA is deemed, as the land of opportunities, where one can become whoever he wants. I first came to USA when I was in high school. My parents had been looking for new jobs and better living conditions for the family. Finally, when they both got the call to move to America, the joy was overwhelming and my siblings and I were equally excited, as we envisioned a brand new and exciting life abroad. However, nobody prepared us for the reality that comes with moving to a new environment. The following essay is a literacy narrative that describes the emotional reactions and challenges I faced, as a new student in the USA.

The first time we arrived in USA, I had mixed feelings. I felt excited and sad at the same time. I was excited because I had seen a whole new different world from what I knew back at home and sad because I had left behind my home, school and friends. I knew I would make new friends and will have a new home in USA, but I was too anxious to consider the many challenges that I would face in the process of settling down. The most obvious challenge was communication. I did not know much English, both written and spoken. Back at home, English was a secondary language and was barely taught in schools. My parents were more frequent English speakers than I was at that time; this was due to the nature of their work that openly allowed them to travel abroad, hence learning some English. Back at home, I never thought I would need to learn the language, until the reality set in. Fortunately, our parents understood the need for us to communicate with other people if we were going to make new friends, both at school and at home. During the second week of our stay, we were enrolled in an English Beginners class.

Learning a new language can be quite difficult. I knew a few words here and there that I had picked from listening to my parents speak and watching the English channels on TV back home. Still, I realized I had a whole lot of learning to do. I wanted to learn fast, so I took extra classes on the evenings and weekends. My teacher, Miss Carey noticed my urge to learn English and she took an interest in helping me develop and sharpen my language skills. She went out of her way to buy me more reading materials and learning English DVDs that really helped me improve my pronunciation of words. I put so much effort in learning the language, that I listened to the audio English lesions on my way to school and back home, while doing my chores at home, and gradually I began speaking English. Though at first it was not as fluent and grammatically correct, the fact that I could actually utter English words gave me further motivation to continue learning.

One of the experiences I encountered that left a mark in my mind was when I got bullied on my way home from my English classes. I ran into a couple of rowdy boys who knew that I was new in the neighborhood. They shoved me into the ground, making fun of my broken English and took away my headphones. That night I did not talk to anyone and I cried alone in my room. The next day I did not go to school and pretended that I was sick. Later that evening, Miss Carey came to my home to inquire about my absence from class. I told her about the bullying and she promised to report the boys to their parents and get me a new set of headphones.

I am now proficient in English. I can write, read and speak English without any difficulties. Miss Carey helped me to reach this far and I am forever indented to her. Without her kind advices and her relentless efforts, I could not have become the person I am today. I have now continued with my education and am among the high academic performing students in my class. Moreover, I found a passion in theater arts and I actively participate in all school plays.