2013 Winning Essays
And I Keep On Walking
By RaulWe came to USA with my family in December 2003 on an adventure, more than to achieve the American dream.
My wife, a MD doctor in Chile, was fluent in English. I had extensive experience in banking for over 22 years, development of computer systems, networks, security, etc.
I did not know the English language. In what could I work without the need for the language? Gardens, landscape. I started my own company, Eco Greenland Co. I would have little contact with people, lot of sun, nature, and I could be my own boss.
The gardens are strenuous and hard, particularly in the summer months, since in Florida everything that is green grows extremely fast in every direction. I spent the years (almost ten) increasingly isolated, social gatherings were a torture, since I was not able to understand or communicate. I almost did not answer the phone, and so time passed.
At home, everyone dominate both languages (Spanish and English), and efforts were being made to speak both languages, but it is always more enjoyable and relaxed to navigate the day in our native language.
My wife left one day to Idaho to do her medical residency for three years, which would bring future major changes to our lives. She never came back.
My oldest daughter was a volunteer in this Library and my youngest daughter was happily working in it too, they enrolled me in the courses to learn English at the Library. At first, I was all panic and nervousness, but later I went with pleasure and happiness.
I knew that at some point I should take the road to learn English, despite the little free time my job left me, and this opportunity was not to be let go.
You provided me all: time, books, learning spaces, and a teacher. I was fortunate to have an excellent teacher and friend (Terry Thomas), who with a special philosophy of life introduced me in an entertaining way to this new path.
I am fifty-six years old, and at this stage of my life it has been far from easy. With Terry we have shared good times together .. Eating, fishing, he has even invited me to social events. What made the difference between learning in a classroom and learning as I walk through life.
Learning to speak a new language has been a unique experience in my life, it has been a gradual process, and those that know me have evaluated my actual progress, especially in the social aspect, because the human being is eminently communicative and social.
Thanks Palm Harbor Library.
Thanks Terry Thomas.
My New Beginning
By VeronicaI am Cookie for all my friends and for you if you want. But my real name is VERONICA. I am 62 years old. I was born in ROMANIA and lived there for many years. I will take a trip to my past, to tell you a little about me.
ROMANIA is a beautiful country. We lived happy moments there, but also hard times. My husband and I worked hard 12 hours per day because we had three children. For 4 years, my mom helped us raise the children, but she died when our children were little. CRISTIAN, my older son, would get off school and he would take care of his brother and sister. He took them to the kindergarten in the morning and went to pick them up in the afternoon. I was a nurse at a large dental clinic. I liked my work very much. My husband worked for a manufacturing company. We had a hard life but we loved it.
After the December 1989 revolution, everyone was disoriented. All the people searched for a better life. My husband died shortly after 1993. A very difficult time for my family followed after he died. I was 42 and my children were teenagers. The children worked for two hours per day in the afternoon, and in the morning they went to school. Later, my children decided to live in another country. I was shocked, but I respected their decision .Christian became mechanical engineer and left for New Zealand. Andreea graduated international relations and left to the United States to continue her studies. She became a CPA. ANDREW became a textile engineer and lives in Romania.
The time passed. For me, there was a new beginning. It was 4 years ago when I was invited by my daughter Andreea and my son-in-low KEN to come to Florida. Andreea gave birth to a baby girl SABINE. I wanted to see them, I wanted to enjoy the wonderful child that was born. I wanted to visit the beautiful country in which they chose to live. I wanted to see a special world that I knew from the movies only. But I only knew a few words in English. It was hard for me to go on this trip but I decided to go to Florida anyway. I was a little scared. Everything was new for me, but my family helped me. My granddaughter was wonderful and we spent a lot of time together. I started to love America and American people who helped me adjust to this new beginning. I asked for help at the library, and Mrs. Kathryn Schultz came to help me. She taught me to read and write in English. Now I can read and I can write. I also got my driving license. I hope to improve my reading and writing skills with Mrs. Kathryn's help. I will try more. I will watch American movies; I will listen to the radio. Every day I will do homework with Sabine in English and Romanian. She is in the second grade now. I will speak English with my son-in-low Ken and with my neighbors to improve my pronunciation.
I am happy to live with my family in a country with special people that know how to help when you need help. I thank my tutor Mrs. KATHRYN SHULTZ and all the staff that works at the literacy council, and that help the adult students. I also thank GOD that I got this far. And I thank you because you listen to my story.
Read to Discover
By MariaWhen I came to the USA I couldn't speak and understand English. I had no idea what anyone was saying in the street and I only spoke with people that could speak Portuguese or Spanish. I didn't know how I would learn English, but I did love to read books of all kinds.
Because of my passion to read, I started learning how to read in English before I could speak. In the beginning it was very hard for me to understand English, because I only had one year of English class in middle school. It was only 45 minutes a week, and back then I wasn't Interested in learning English. It had never crossed my mind to live in the USA. I started reading children's books like phonics and reading level 1, 2, and 3. After a couple months, I noticed I didn't have any difficulty reading kid's books. I began to read higher level books.
I gained an understanding in English by watching various television shows like "S~same Street" and the weather channel with my four years old son on the weekends. The funny part about all of this is that I learned English completely backwards. Where most people learn English by speaking and attending classes before moving on to reading and writing, I instead started by reading books without knowing how to even speak the language.
I have been struggling to communicate with others in English. I can't practice English at home as my husband just speaks with me in Spanish while my kids talk to me in Portuguese. Because of that I decided to get help. When looking for English class I found out about the Library Adult Literacy Program and I thought that is my chance to get help in English conversation. Here I am now studying reading, writing and English pronunciation for almost two years. Now I feel more confident and comfortable around people who speak the English language.