English, The Monster Language
From the reading of “Learning to Read and Write”, Frederick Douglass is a perfect example of Creative problem solving. Frederick had no support system, no one to encourage him or help him except as he enlisted them. But, he recognized that if he wanted to break free from his condition, he had to learn to read and write and, or he would forever be a slave, not a slave to someone else, a slave to his own ignorance. Knowledge was to be his passport to freedom. He was surrounded by people who were enveloped with the Puff Prejudge befogger, but he refused to accept their judgment of him. Using a great deal of creativity and initiative, he found the resources to learn how to read and write, resources many people wouldn’t even recognized. Eventually, Frederick did gain his freedom and became a powerful and eloquent opponent of slavery, both as a speaker and a writer. He was a key figure in rallying public opinion, both in the North and in Europe against slavery prior to and during the civil war.
As I read Douglass’ reading, I turned my mind back to when I just got into U.S. first time. English is not my first language. I was born in Korea, and lived there for 20 years, which means I got totally used not to learn any other languages. Even though I had learned English from junior high school, living and studying with Americans together was totally different. At school I could not keep with my classes with assigned readings. I always needed more time than the others. Also I was afraid to turn papers assigned for homework because I got rejected with papers whatever I turned in. I needed to do something to compete with the other students. I need to do something to improve and develop my English reading and writing skills.
First, I began to try to spend more time to use English. For example, I spent at least one hour everyday listening to news. My first ESL teacher, Mary, said that TV is the best and most inexpensive teacher to learn real English. It was really, really hard...
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