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Preschool and Kinder
I entered preschool in Garfield Elementary School, Bpt. Conn. Here I began my first experiences with the English Language. -
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When my English Language Expanded
In Fifth grade, my English improved because many of my school tasks involved writting and reading many English essays. As students we had to complete a five paragraph essay with no errors. Teachers would correct the essays and we had to do it over until it had no errors. We used a big dictionary to correct our spelling. We learned English by practicing it daily. -
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Advanced English Literature Class
During this time, my teachers decided I was being held back by my class mates so they changed my regular English class to an Advanced English Literature Class with the "non - bilingual" students of the seventh and eighth grade. I liked the course very much because we had to read a lot. The stories and novels seemed very interesting to me. I still remember a brief summary of the readings we worked with. -
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Regular High School For Me!
By this date I was enrolled in junior high school. We weren't in a bilingual program anymore. Now we were going through regular high school. It was scary at first. I felt somewhat out of place bacause I didn't feel secure anymore. This wasn't a problem for me to make friends. I had many friends from different grade levels. We shared a lot because the school was a Technical Vocational High School where we took two weeks regular class and two weeks vocational courses. It was lots of fun. -
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My return to Puerto Rico
As a family we returned to Puerto Rico. I didn't want to return to the island but I had to. It was a big change for me. I had to adapt to how things worked here in the island. I kept contact with my friends in the states. Even though I didn't practice English that much I didn't forget. My favorite class was English because I didn't have to study to get an A! -
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My University Years
It took me four and a half years to finish my bachelors degree in Education. I loved my English courses. I saw many classmates struggle with it but I didn't. It was very easy for me. One year I took three English courses in one semester. My classmates thought I was crazy to do so. But it was okay for me. -
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My Graduate Years
I felt the need to continue my academic preparation in order for me to obtain a job. I enrolled for my masters degree and we had to complete many assignments in English. Here too I saw many classmates struggle. Thanks to the many years I lived in the United States, I had no trouble. Well, actually I had to look up some words in the dictionary. They were words used in investigations and long term studies. -
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My kids!
By the year 2008, my oldest child had 6 years of age and my youngest had 2. They are both bilingual and I'm very proud of them. Actually my youngest learned Spanish in preschool. He didn't want to speak Spanish! I was worried but he learned Spanish with his teacher and classmates. Now he's fluent in both English and Spanish.