My English Journey Summary

The excerpt “My English Journey” from the book New Voices by student writers is about a young girl who moved to the United States to study. The story begins as she explains the 2+2 program they had at her school back in China. This program allowed her to study in the United States for two years. Although all of her friends didn’t like the idea of her moving to the United States to finish college, she was excited to come and learn about the culture and new setting. Her friends warned her about the new language and how she’d have to adapt in many ways she wouldn’t be too comfortable with. Although she was a bit worried about the new language and nervous about understanding her assignments she knew that this would be a great learning experience and she was up for it. She loves to challenge herself. She was very comfortable with the Chinese language because it was her first language. When she was five years old her mother sent her to a class where she would learn English phrases. She was very interested in the class because they taught the language with the help of fun games and catchy songs. Her first English word was “apple.” The teacher taught word with pictures so that the students could familiarize themselves with the photo and know exactly what the word
She found many similarities between them. She said that literacy isn’t always not knowing how to read or write, instead it’s the ability granted by being able to make different connections with the outside world. She explained how she experienced culture shock because many things were different from what she was accustomed to back in China. Whenever she had trouble understanding something she would ask a friend for clarification or information about an author to get a better grasp on the reading. She looks forward to expanding her knowledge in the English world and will continue to read in order to better her skills and learn about the