Narrative Essay About Living In Texas
Fresh Perspective
Living in Texas most of my life I was no stranger to Americans who either didn’t speak English at all or whose first language wasn’t English. As I interacted with people, mostly from Mexico, I had a hard time understanding why they didn’t want to speak English . Although I’m ashamed to say it, I often viewed these people as less educated and meek. A statement that Ive heard all to often is that people who don’t speak English should learn our language or leave America. However, I’ve never considered myself racist or close minded, despite the fact that I often felt frustrated and uncomfortable while trying to interact with people whose first language wasn’t English. Being on the other side of this situation forever changed …show more content…
My goal was humble myself and make every attempt to acclimate to this new country. I failed on many occasions. I relied heavily on the kindness of stranger as I became overwhelmed and jumbled my poorly spoken German. Even up until the day I left I was easily confused with new dialects or swiftly spoken German. The feeling of my face turning red and hot as a looked down at the ground to try and gather my thoughts was all too familiar. Processing what was being said to me took a lot of extra time and left long pauses. In the same way I had seen people behave in Texas. I was very impatient and lacked compassion as the woman looking to find her way in our country tried to process my response to her attempt at asking me for help. I felt ashamed at my thoughts and beliefs of people who were attempting to acclimate to a whole new world. Unlike me, many of the German people were extremely patient and kind. They were very familiar with the feeling of being in an unknown environment. From a very early age they are taught English and often a third language. At every turn I was met by people who not only gave me the time I needed to process and respond but often times they would begin a conversation with me in English. On more than one occasion I was engaged in conversation by people who were interested in America and helped me to better understand Germany and the German people, I am still friends with one such German to this
Living in Texas most of my life I was no stranger to Americans who either didn’t speak English at all or whose first language wasn’t English. As I interacted with people, mostly from Mexico, I had a hard time understanding why they didn’t want to speak English . Although I’m ashamed to say it, I often viewed these people as less educated and meek. A statement that Ive heard all to often is that people who don’t speak English should learn our language or leave America. However, I’ve never considered myself racist or close minded, despite the fact that I often felt frustrated and uncomfortable while trying to interact with people whose first language wasn’t English. Being on the other side of this situation forever changed …show more content…
My goal was humble myself and make every attempt to acclimate to this new country. I failed on many occasions. I relied heavily on the kindness of stranger as I became overwhelmed and jumbled my poorly spoken German. Even up until the day I left I was easily confused with new dialects or swiftly spoken German. The feeling of my face turning red and hot as a looked down at the ground to try and gather my thoughts was all too familiar. Processing what was being said to me took a lot of extra time and left long pauses. In the same way I had seen people behave in Texas. I was very impatient and lacked compassion as the woman looking to find her way in our country tried to process my response to her attempt at asking me for help. I felt ashamed at my thoughts and beliefs of people who were attempting to acclimate to a whole new world. Unlike me, many of the German people were extremely patient and kind. They were very familiar with the feeling of being in an unknown environment. From a very early age they are taught English and often a third language. At every turn I was met by people who not only gave me the time I needed to process and respond but often times they would begin a conversation with me in English. On more than one occasion I was engaged in conversation by people who were interested in America and helped me to better understand Germany and the German people, I am still friends with one such German to this