Literacy Narrative - Sebastian T

Sebastian Tolpa

ENG 11000 B

16 February, 2015

New Language New Me

As I walked into the big windowed classroom, the first thing I noticed was how different all the kids looked compared to me. My “fresh off the boat” outfit was one thing, but all kids’ diverse faces was another. Noticing Polish faces and hearing Polish being spoken should’ve suppressed my nervousness, but it didn’t. I felt frustration in my inability to communicate right from the moment when a classmate was needed to translate information about me for the teacher. The teacher, Ms.Contreras, assured me that I can always rely on my classmates to translate if necessary. For a moment I was relieved because almost half the class was of Polish kids and that took away much of my fright, but later I learned that my non-Polish classmates were of better help to me.

            I think it was the second day of school for me when a lady took me out of the classroom to evaluate my level of English.  I remember she was rather an old white lady, she had black hair and intense black eyeliner. She took me downstairs to an empty classroom and began asking basic questions like “Where are you from?” She intended to get me comfortable since she was foreign to me, but the more questions she asked the more of a puzzle it became for me. I felt so frustrated I just wanted to run out so that I can find someone that I can understand. I remember after she asked what street I lived on, I kept answering “I live in USA I live in USA” before I burst out in tears.

            I came back home and complained every day to my mom about how much I hated the school here. Soon after, she bought me a thick yellow Polish-English dictionary. It was a way of communication and even thought it wasn’t the greatest it was still a way I could express myself. I would carry this book everywhere with me, not only to school but also when I went to nearby stores. This book helped me lessen my frustration over not being able to interact, I didn’t feel as lonely as before and it broke the wall that stood between me and classmates sitting next to me.

            I enrolled at PS.110 about two weeks into the school year so the kids in my class were already taking word quizzes. Ms.Contreras would say a word out loud and we would have to correctly write the word on a sheet of paper. Ms.Contreras knew that my knowledge of English was pretty much nothing so I would assume that for the first quiz at least she wouldn’t lay that sheet of paper on my desk, but no. When she began saying the words, I panicked. I knew that English was very different, words aren’t spoken exactly how they appear on paper as opposed to Polish. Ms.Contreras got to the last few words yet my paper was still blank. Again I panicked, quickly looked to my right and copied my classmate even though she noticed. But it worked. Then came the second quiz and I did the same exact thing, the Spanish girl I copied from noticed again, this time she went to the teacher at the end of the day. The next day Ms.Contreras was handing out these quizzes and mine was the last one, she slammed the quiz on my desk and demanded an explanation. Although I don’t remember what she was saying, I do remember she was enraged. I remember myself burying my head inside my sweater in shame. I didn’t have to look around because I knew all eyes in that classroom were looking at me in disappointment.

            Then there was a time when I took a test was with the ESL group and I sat next to these troublemakers. Once we started the test, they whispered to me in Polish the answer for the first question. Luckily the first question was quite easy so I recognized that the answer they whispered to me was incorrect. I didn’t confront them about it, they continued whispering to me the wrong answers while giggling and I continued to ignore them. Inside the regular classroom I didn’t find pleasant polish friends either. My Polish classmates quickly became annoyed by me whenever I asked them for help in translating or instructions. Moreover, I felt like some Polish kids didn’t like me just because. As if they were too smart to talk to my “dumb” self. 

            My classroom wasn’t the only place I encountered unpleasant kids. When the class went out to recess after lunch, there was this Spanish kid from another class, about half as tall as me, who just started bumping into me and saying some stuff I didn’t comprehend. I honestly didn’t really care about some bumping so I just ignored him, I took it as normal since I was new, and it’s not like I could’ve whipped out my thick yellow dictionary and flip the pages to see what he was saying. But apparently in America everyone took bullying seriously. My classmate, Matthew Minucci, told me to tell Ms.Contreras about the incident and when I refused he went himself. I realized that these things happening to me weren’t just going to go away, I knew I needed to learn English to become independent and able to stand up for myself.

               I greatly attribute my English learning to my teachers in elementary and middle schools. In elementary school my teachers took a lot of time to help the ESL group, they would take out the small group during regular class, have us stay after school, and I remember sometimes being taught alone during recess and I don’t think the teacher was even obligated to doing so. I remember the books full of rich color where I would match pictures or fill in blanks. My learning did pay off. After a few times of also studying the dictionary of simple words I finally got a word correctly in a class spelling bee. I remember my classmates cheering and clapping for me. In no time Ms.Contreras gave me a student of the month award. Learning in middle school was quite different. I was the only white boy in my school, which was probably better for my learning but I had more trouble making friends. There too I had a wonderful ESL teacher and I remember learning a lot through Rosetta Stone which also used pictures for learning.

            My learning didn’t stop in school though. In elementary school I would go to my cousin’s house every day to do my homework. I would sneak out a dry erase board from the pocket of the desk at the end of the day to use it for homework. I remember the colorful fruity scented markers my cousin gave me; I would use the markers for the board especially the apple, grape, and cherry one. Sometimes I felt like getting help form my cousin didn’t benefit me, like when she completed a project for me and it was obvious it was too sophisticated to be made by me. Living in Greenpoint didn’t help my English literacy either. Not only does my family only speak Polish at home, but whenever I went outside I would be able to communicate in Polish.  

            I honestly believe that Ms.Contreras changed me. I came to America as a rather rebellious kid and had a start in American school getting in trouble. Despite my bumpy start, Ms.Contreras saw potential in me and believed that I can achieve great things and learn English quickly. I passed the proficiency test and exited ESL after my third year. Ms.Contreras not only helped me with my English literacy but also helped me become a better person. She gave me more excitement for learning; without her I don’t think I would have done as good in middle and high school as I did. Gaining English literacy finally made me become independent.