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Jose Gasca
Professor Holly Guile
English 2010
June 29 2014

My Early Experience as a Non English Speaking Immigrant in the United States.
High school graduation in Mexico was the day in which the most decisive and relevant
opportunity that could change my life presented itself. There were two choices, stay in Mexico
and go to college there or come the United States to join my family and go to college here. At
first I wanted to study Civil Engineering at ITESM (a very prestigious university) in Monterrey,
Mexico but after finding out the tuition rates that was not an option anymore. That is what led
me to come to the United States of America.
The obstacle and fear that I had at the time was the fact that I did not speak any English
at all and I needed to learn it fast if I wanted to get a job. On the third day in the States my
cousin got me a job where he was working. I remember it only paid minimum wage but I took it
anyway. I struggled during the interview process and also during the first few days on the job.
The one thing that I was known for was the blank face I would get whenever somebody told me
something or asked me a question in English. For some reason when people wanted to talk to
me I used to get so nervous that I actually stopped listening and could not pay any attention to
what they were saying. There were times in which I was so desperate and anxious because of
the language barrier that I actually thought about going back to Mexico. I also believe that not
being able to speak English during the first year was the reason for me to delay my college
career.
I spent close to two years at this job and then my brother got me another job at a pcb
(printed circuit board) company. I was a machine operator, this position was assigned to me


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because I did not speak English. The chemicals in the line I was running had to be tested every
4 hours and the guy in charge was Eric. Eric was a big guy in his mid thirties with a great
personality and social skills. Whenever he went to get his sample from the line he would stay
there for a few minutes and he would talk and talk. I think he knew I was not understanding a
thing he was saying but he did not care. Sometimes I picked up a few words here and there and
that is what helped me to get an idea about what Eric was saying to me. I hated that I wanted to
be a part of this two way communication process and I could not do it, all I could do was smile
and nod during the entire conversation.
After about six months at this company I had the opportunity to leave the line and make
more money which meant I had to focus more on learning English. One day Eric went to get his
samples for the day and he asked me if I would be interested in joining the Chemical Laboratory
doing what he was doing. Eric was going to be moving to another department and he needed
someone to take his position. I was glad I could understand that with my broken English
because I really needed a pay raise. Eric knew that I could manage to do what he did so I told
him I would take the job and the training process began.
Eric was so polite, nice and patience that he even made uncomfortable sometimes. He
took the time to type every single step and the name of the chemicals on a single sheet of paper
with very small text so that I had an easier time learning the process. One day we were on our
way to get the chemicals from the line and he gave me a pep talk that still remember today. Eric
told me why he was helping me. He told me: I am glad to see people like you who try to better
themselves. This was also the first time I told other person why I came to the States, in English,
well broken English.
After a few weeks training in this new position with Eric I finally got enough enthusiasm
and drive to start taking English classes, this is where all the fun began. I enrolled at Horizonte
Training Center here in Salt Lake City for night classes. The day that I went to the main office to


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talk to the guy in charge of assigning the English levels I was so surprised to find out that he
spoke Spanish. So I talked to the guy and he asked me some questions, in English of course,
and he placed me in level 3 out of 9.
The classes were taught Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6:00 pm to 9:00
pm and I was told that I could get credits if I wanted to get a High School diploma in the States
which I declined. I showed up for my first class on a Tuesday and as usual I got lost because I
could not remember what room my class took place in and I was unable to ask for help. When I
finally found my classroom I walked in hoping the teacher would not ask me to introduce myself
and that was exactly what happened.
My teachers name was Kelly and she was tall, young and very kind, she also spoke
Spanish but only when it was extremely necessary. She said to me: Hello whats your name
and is this your first day? the classroom was pretty crowded and my stage fright took over. I
introduced my self in Spanish, most of the students were Hispanic, and then I sat down right
away. That felt weird and I remained quiet for the rest of the class. That was my school routine
for the first few weeks until I felt a bit confident about my English skills.
My teacher Kelly had a very peculiar way of teaching English, she taught English by
teaching History of the United States. In her classes we all would have discussions, or at least
try to have discussions, about colonial America, the civil war and other American history topics.
Every two months we had to do a presentation on what we just learned and that almost made
me quit school. I was not good at presentations and much less in English. When the day of the
presentation finally came I freaked out. I was not ready for that and all I can remember is my
classmates talking to me but I was so nervous that I did not understand a word they were
saying. So I stood there in front of everybody and read everything off a piece of paper I had
scribbled a few days before. Once I finished reading my presentation I actually hid behind some
of my classmates.


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After about four months of taking English/History classes I began to have conversations
with other students and started to socialize which was what I really wanted to do as well. This
allowed me to move to the next level where I was able to learn how to write a full essay in
English. When I moved up in my class I also had to change teacher. The new teacher was
much older, she was twice as kind and just like Kelly she also had a very special way for
teaching English. I do not actually recall what her name was but I do remember fruit basket.
Fruit basket was a very fun game this teacher used to create the right studying environment.
After about a year I reached level number 9 and I was surprised to realize that this level
was not as challenging as I had thought it would be. This might have been because I was ready
to take on the challenge. My teacher on level number 9 was a lady from Peru. I do not recall her
name either all I can remember is that she was LDS and really liked parties. In this class we
were asked to do research and share with our teammates what we found. I was glad to finally
be able to have and maintain conversations with others in English.
During those days there was this time in which I sat down with a few of my friends in this
level and we chatted non stop for three full hours. Our teacher was sitting with us and she gave
us a great talk on what to do if you want to be successful in the United States. She told us we
should use and apply our English skills to get into college and further our education. This was
the moment in which I felt I was ready to take on this challenge, to go to college in the United
States and study in English. That was the end of the class cycle at Horizonte and the
culmination of my English learning process. My dream of studying Civil Engineering at ITESM
did not come true but I applied to the University of Utah and was accepted for the Spring of
2007. I am thankful for all the experiences that I lived and most importantly all the beautiful
people I met in the process.


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