Who Am I as a Writer
As an immigrant person who was raised overseas, the language barrier was my biggest challenge that I have faced in my life. As a child, I grew up learning Arabic and French as my second language. I have always loved to write in my native language. I loved how I can express myself and my feelings without even saying them out loud. “But, can I still do this?” a question that was always driving me hazy. A new language means
English was my nightmare; it was really hard for me not only to speak the language but also to write. I couldn’t imagine myself writing a single paragraph in less than one hour. I used to get really nervous when I just hold my pen and start thinking. “I can’t” was the only world that I had in my mind while I was writing. For me, it was really frustrating to translate everything in my mind to ENGLISH. Moreover, following the grammar rules was also confusing for me since it is way different than my native language.
Starting with some ESL classes, I had the opportunity to share my feelings with other students that have the same problem. However this made me feels even worse because everyone was complaining .I get to the point that I wanted to give up on everything and just stay home by myself. Yet, everything changed when I met Professor Molly; she had an important impact on my writing skills. She provided me in an enjoyable way with the basic methods that I need to write a good paragraph. Later on I realized that writing could be a fun thing to do. I started practicing with some tutors for more than three hours a day and after each session I was able to see how my writing was improving day after day.
Now after two years of persistent work, I feel more confident about my writing, however I still have some weak points that I need to work on. Firstly, time is my enemy. Actually I consider myself as slow in writing. Moreover I get so nervous and anxious, when I need to write essay in a limited time. The pressure is overwhelming. The fear of not
English was my nightmare; it was really hard for me not only to speak the language but also to write. I couldn’t imagine myself writing a single paragraph in less than one hour. I used to get really nervous when I just hold my pen and start thinking. “I can’t” was the only world that I had in my mind while I was writing. For me, it was really frustrating to translate everything in my mind to ENGLISH. Moreover, following the grammar rules was also confusing for me since it is way different than my native language.
Starting with some ESL classes, I had the opportunity to share my feelings with other students that have the same problem. However this made me feels even worse because everyone was complaining .I get to the point that I wanted to give up on everything and just stay home by myself. Yet, everything changed when I met Professor Molly; she had an important impact on my writing skills. She provided me in an enjoyable way with the basic methods that I need to write a good paragraph. Later on I realized that writing could be a fun thing to do. I started practicing with some tutors for more than three hours a day and after each session I was able to see how my writing was improving day after day.
Now after two years of persistent work, I feel more confident about my writing, however I still have some weak points that I need to work on. Firstly, time is my enemy. Actually I consider myself as slow in writing. Moreover I get so nervous and anxious, when I need to write essay in a limited time. The pressure is overwhelming. The fear of not