As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
What lay within us, at around eight years old, was the ability to learn a new language as if we had spoken it from birth.
On October 24, 2007, we boarded an airplane for the first time in our lives. We traveled through four airports, and nothing felt familiar. We couldn’t understand a single word anyone said—we spoke only Haitian Creole at the time. We passed through the airports of Port-au-Prince, Miami, Chicago, and Buffalo before finally arriving at 2 a.m., at the house that would become our new home.
We were greeted by a group of unfamiliar faces. “Bonjou,” we said in Haitian Creole. “Hello,” they all responded.
One of those unfamiliar faces would later become the woman we now call our mother.
Within a month and a half of arriving in the United States, we were introduced to formal education. In just a few weeks, we began speaking and writing in English. One evening, lying on our red couch in November 2007, one of us turned to our mother and said:
“Mom, look.”
We held up a magnetic writing/sketching board. On it, we had written the word BINGO.
“Bingo!” our mom exclaimed.
Then we wrote the word “cat”—although our “t” looked more like an “x.”
“Is it cat?” she asked. “Cat,” we repeated proudly.
We don’t remember exactly when we lost the ability to speak Haitian Creole, but it must have happened within a few weeks or months. By December 2007, we spoke enough English to start school. We were enrolled in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes in addition to our regular classes. Those ESL lessons played a major role in helping us adapt to our new life.
In March 2008, we put on a reading show for our parents in our ESL class. Holding up sticks with paper fish that matched the words, we read aloud:
“One fish. Two fish. Red fish. Everybody see.”
When we got stuck, our ESL teacher gently prompted us. “What are…” she said. “What are lot fish there are,” we continued.
We remained in ESL until the end of fourth grade. By the start of fifth grade, we no longer needed extra language support. We were reading, writing, and speaking confidently in English. In our elementary school production of Cinderella, we were chosen to be the narrators. Having that role showed just how far we had come.
ESL helped ensure we didn’t fall behind academically. It laid the foundation that allowed us to eventually take advanced courses and graduate. Now, more than ten years later, we speak and write fluently in English. Yet, there are still moments when we struggle to pronounce certain words or grasp their meanings. Sometimes, people don’t understand us because of our accent. But we don’t let those moments discourage us.
Instead, they motivate us.
Today, we work with English learners—just like we once were—helping them adapt to their new surroundings and build strong foundations in grammar, literature, and writing. Being teachers gives us the opportunity to offer students the same quality education and encouragement that once helped us thrive.
MD Cashdollar 