this is the story of a saudi Arabian friend who was poor in English but still wanted to study in the US enjoy
Language barrier in a foreign land
For centuries language has been the link between tribes and economies; that is why, as an international student I was eager to learn English. When I arrived in the USA, I was confident enough with the little English that I knew. My English was both distasteful and incomprehensible. It came without question when I became the campus laughing stock. Most are the times that people understood me differently, this affected my self esteem which in retrospect brought about negative consequences to my social life; I would regularly suffer stress but again it was hard to relay my problems to anybody close.
In a land where the population consisted of descendants of people who had escaped religious persecution from their country of birth, I had not fathomed language barrier ridicule. The forefathers had joined up to create a world of new order; they chose English to be their unifying language, and now I was all alone just because my words had a few grammatical errors. I was familiar with the discrimination of the black man but more so aware of the transformation USA had gone through for the four hundred years of her life. America had started from enslaving blacks to crowning them to presidency, Barrack Obama, yet they were not ready for the likes of me. I knew English; my only problem was my low level command which even under personal judgment I would say it was awful.
It became difficult for me to answer questions let alone ask, in class, yet the teachers did not notice my case. Some students branded me a retard; I felt both humiliated and disgusted. My grades then started to decline, and this was clear evidence that my brain could not grasp anything, let alone the white man’s words. Hoping to join the advanced English class; I found myself rotting in the intermediate one. This adversely affected my self esteem.
It became harder for me to interact with the opposite gender. I do not have the Machoman looks that make girls follow a man like a fly follows a stench, yet I didn’t have the words to convince a girl that I liked her. The only words i could utter were ‘hi’, so universal but not enough to lure a girl to your arms. Babes would feel sorry for me, touch my beard and then leave without saying a word.
I love the American education system, but at one point, all I wanted was to go back home back to my people those who understood me, tolerated me, cared for me and loved me; but that would be at the expense of my future carrier. All my life I wanted to be a biomedical researcher. I had an internal struggle going on between personal comfort and my future and comfort was almost winning, especially when I would receive an overseas call from my girlfriend back home. We would talk for hours I shared my problems with her and fortunately she was extremely supportive and encouraging. She told me, in order to achieve stellar results there must be sacrifice and to suffering.
This got me started on a second journey, a journey to self liberation, I put on extra effort in my intermediate class and was no longer in fear of asking questions. My peers laughed at my innuendo, but at long last they laughed no more; my guess they got used to it. The teachers understood me and continued to offer me extra tutoring lessons. Life was now smooth and bearable I was no longer in fear of my peers; we got along so well others would even attempt to correct my grammatical mistakes. After a long struggle I had finally fit in, I was now a part of the USA community. I am now in the advanced level of English. I have conquered the language barrier; I am a true international student.
*******
Feel inspired other people should not bring you down
Papallary 