A Turning Point in My Life
pertinent. It is related to my daily life. It focuses on what I
need. Tutoring has changed my life. It did not happen
overnight. It smoothly fits into my life. I feel more
confident when I talk to my neighbors, store staff, office
clerks, and others. Now, I can even throw some slang at my
kids, like “hold your horses” and “wait your turn." I can see
how that surprised them; they thought their mom would
never know those kinds of words. Saying thank you is not
enough to express my appreciation. Just like Jessica said, “It
is time to move forward.”
Linda Ma is a student at Literacy Council of Upper Pinellas.
A Turning Point in My Life
I have been working in United States since February
2012, and since then I have been looking for my turning
point as I have been experiencing difficulty understanding
others or expressing myself during professional activities.
Everyone says that its a normal situation, but its not that
simple. Hence, increasing my language proficiency will be
my turning point. My perceived lack of language mastery is
embarrassing and makes me less productive. The energy it
takes to run errands, prepare for meetings, and conduct
trainings is very stressful. I`ll reach my turning point when
I am able to express myself without thinking about what I
want to say before I say it and when I am able to figure out
the subject of a conversation I wish to join in on. My
turning point will happen when I can differentiate regional
accents and when I cannot only laugh at jokes, but also
make my own jokes.
My strategy to reach this consists of immersing myself
in the English language and culture. My objective is to keep
listening, speaking, reading and writing just in English and
to continue attending night school. Once I reach my turning
point, I realize that it will not be easy to stay there. It is very
seductive to continue speaking or reading in my own
language just to relax, but I realize that this will impede any
progress that I have made so far. Many think just staying in
a foreign country allows them to learn the language, but this