My First Experience in the United States

My First Experience In The United States

At the age of eighteen, I got my first chance to immigrate to the United States. When I first came here, everything was so new and different that I felt surprised and could not imagine it. However, after being here for four months, it turned out to be an entirely new and worthwhile experience.

It was my first time to go to a country where English was the common language. Although I had studied English for six years in Vietnam, I had a few problems in quality of communication. For example, different people have their own accent. Others speak so fast that I could not fully understand. I had to listen attentively to people and ask them to repeat at least twice so that I could understand what they said. Moreover, I could only catch up with the main idea and tried to guess the meaning of the new words. Besides, I found it hard to speak English all the time and use it to express my thoughts and my feelings. I also had difficulties dealing with a variety of vocabulary and idioms in English when I read books and magazines.

I had thought my life in the United States would be challenging. Living in a new country with little or no similarity with my home country was difficult at first. I had to face problems with cultural differences and lifestyles. It not only required me to be familiar with the commonplaces and practices in a new country, but also forced me to live and act as normally as Americans do. The more I thought about it, the more I felt lonely and homesick. I missed the good old days in Vietnam. I missed unforgettable experiences spent with my relatives and my close friends. I even cried a lot when I thought about the time when my family members gather for special celebrations.

Two months later, I went to college for registration. In order to earn some skills to communicate with people, I took a speech class. I was shy and scared at first because this was the first class I took. I had no friends and no ideas about speech. I realized that I was the only new student while others had experienced at least one year in college. I was afraid that I would not make a good performance in this semester. Therefore, I felt awkward and reserved.

However, everyone in class helped me a lot when they knew I had been here for only two months. They were so kind that they explained anything I did not understand. They not only advised me to be more optimistic but also encouraged me to try my best. Moreover, my speech instructor was always there to help others and appreciated all types of students. She was very knowledgeable about the subject. She had passion for what she taught. She cared about her students and wanted them to succeed. She also had a great way of teaching students and making the content interesting in her lecture. She made sure every second in her class was engaging and exciting. As a result, my shyness and embarrassment faded gradually.