Wang 1

Wang, Yu-Jhen (Cynthia)

ESL 33B
Project1 first draft
21 September 2016
My English Learning Journey
Learning is a lifetime assignment. I do believe that everyone has some positive and
negative experiences in learning language. Although learning English might cause failure or
disappointment, the process of learning is the most valuable experience. Some of the people
would say that learning a new language is not worth it at all, but some of them might be affected
a lot by learning a new language. I experienced how important it is to learn English in my life
because it affected my attitude of learning. I also appreciated that I have opportunities to be
closer to English.
When I was five, my parents sent me to an English school to learn basic English
conversation. It was my first time learning English. I had Candy as my first English name. I
liked to talk with my teacher and play with other people in the class. Elementary school level
English was easy for me because I had some English foundations. Therefore, I didnt study hard
at that time. I was one of the people who had a dream of studying abroad. When I was in 9 th
grade, my father decided to let me come to United States. It was my first time to come to an
English- speaking country. I had a lot of imaginations about how my life would be different in
the United States. I realized that my expectation of American dream was so high. I could not
understand what teachers said in the lecture. I was afraid of asking professor with my Chinese
accent English. I had thirty algebra problems to solve every day. I remembered that I had
difficulty on solving problems because I couldnt understand the instructions and questions. For

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me, math questions are just like English reading homework because I had to look at every word
in that sentence before I started answering the questions. I felt lonely when I was in school with
all the people who had different looking from me. Everyone seemed unfriendly when I spoke to
them because my English was not good enough to blend into my classmates easily.
After four months, I wanted to go home and couldnt think of any reason to continue
staying in the United States. I told myself that I will never come to the United States again. My
father was very upset about me giving up halfway. He wasnt willing to talk to me for a while.
Regardless, I went back to Taiwan and prepared to go to high school. I thought I made a right
decision by putting myself back into a comfort zone. My mother woke me up every morning, and
made me breakfast. The way my mother took care of me caused me to depend on others. Without
an English speaking environment, I was in the same situation with Tan. In the book Mother
Tongue, the author Amy Tan tells the readers that I think my mothers English almost had an
effect on limiting my possibilities in life as well. Tan wrote about how limited her mothers
English was. She also mentioned how her language ability was affected by her family. In the
essay, Tan said that she grew up in a Chinese immigrant family which did not have a good
English environment for her to have perfect English. I was born and lived in Taiwan, and I didnt
have any environment or motivation to learn English well. Even I went to English learning
center, I still spoke Chinese with my classmates. I always try to get the homework done as soon
as possible, I thought I just need to fill the answers in the blanks instead of spending time study
English hard and apply them in my daily life.
When I was in high school, I realized that not only did I not maintain my English ability,
but also started to decrease. I failed exams very often and I didnt take it seriously. I always
assume that it happened because I did not do it carefully, and I told myself that I would do better

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next time. My final grade was lower than I expected. In my first year of college, I didnt even
put myself in the English learning environment. In my school, English class doesnt require
students to write any essay or paper. We sometimes took easy vocabulary quizzes just for the
grade on transcript. I remembered that my mother paid for English learning institution to let me
have an another chance learning English. However, I dropped the class secretly after I went to
the class serval times. Besides the classes. I spent a lot of time using internet rather than used
online resources to increase my English level, either. I knew that watching American TV shows
or movies would help me a lot, but I just took busy as my excuse. I didnt think that I would need
a second language in the future. I went to a language school after I decided to come to the United
States. In the class, I strived for every chance to practice my English. I was willing to present in
front of the class. I liked to hang out with my classmate with English chatting. Every day after
class, I had to spend a lot of time catching up with the English level that I was supposed to have.
I studied very hard in order to pass the TOEFL. I didnt want to miss the opportunity that I can
learn English again.
After working so hard for half a year, I applied to Pasadena City College. I was so happy
that I got accepted by PCC, and started my new college life again. In my first year at PCC, I had
so many experiences about English, I struggled with grammar and vocabularies every time when
I was writing. Natalie Goldberg who is an American author and speaker, she mentioned Dont
worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. I liked this point that she wrote in the essay. It is
very important that we can come out our ideas and concept without being interrupted by
grammar. I always overthink about my grammar and spelling. I knew I need more writing
practices and vocabulary quantities. I met my first ESL professor last Fall. Her teaching method
was very special which helped me to overcome my fear in learning English. She asked everyone

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to free write every day and suggested that we dont waste too much time on thinking. She also
said that when we were practicing free write, we should write without thinking too detail and
worrying too much about if the grammar is right or not. My first ESL professor used this concept
to encourage me as well. I felt more confident in freewriting after took her class, and I was
willing to write something that happens every day. We read a novel together by discussing and
responding. I hated to read, but I enjoyed the time reading that novel. I wanted to know what is
going on in the novel. At the end of last semester, professor invited the author who wrote that
novel to the class. It was my first time seeing the writer who wrote the novel that I read stood in
front of the class. We asked the writer as many questions as possible in the book, and it made me
more interested in that novel. She gave us a task to go to down town LA. We have to find the
specific places which she asked everyone to go, and took pictures to proof everyone was there.
During this activity, I had more chances to use English. We had to discuss the task together and
get familiar with the geographical location among every places. I had to admitted that she really
brought me into the English world, and successfully opened my heart to English. As a second
year PCC student now, I think my English ability has improved gradually. I made a friend whose
first language is English from Chemistry class last semester. We are even taking Anatomy and
Psychology together this semester.
After one year of getting used to the new school, I dont feel lonely and nervous when I
am talking to my classmates. Some of us are even taking classes together. Now I am taking the
last level of ESL class. I hope I can complement my insufficiency especially my grammar
problems and vocabulary usage. In this ESL class, I also want to practice my writing essay, I
know it would definitely help me when I go to next level of English. I knew that study in college
by using second language is not easy. I always ask myself why I chose to leave everything that I

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was familiar with and came to the United States to attend a college. I look forward to having
more capability such as independency and language skill when I am in the United States. My
father told me that the only way to see the actual world is to go out of the place where I live. I
was thankful that my parents gave me so many chances to learn English and didnt ask for
anything in return. Although I was too immature to appreciate those opportunities, now I know
everything has its reason and it will have a result if I work hard. I realized that coming to the
United States is a very precious opportunity. I think that learning English will be a life lesson for
me. I know that I will always have an open-mind to learn anything.