-
Macaulay Honors College
at Baruch, Spring 2013Professor Els de Graauw
ITF Benjamin Miller Log in
Not finding what you need? Search here:
Learning English
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, describes her difficult but rewarding procoess with learning English:
I can say for sure that the language, I mean, English, improved a lot since I came here. There is no doubt, especially when you interact with people. Most of the time, I speak Russian at home, but when it comes to work or communicating with people even outside the home, you speak and practice your language skills. Also, when you watching TV, or you’re reading…I don’t know. I only read English books, I don’t read that much Russian language. Especially when you practice, it helps you a lot to improve your language skills. […] I wanted and I needed to because without knowing English – everyone speaks English in this country, so it’s necessary for you to learn to be able to, as I mentioned before, to be able to communicate with people, to find your job, to do the other stuff.
American Life
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, talks of her experiences adjusting to life in America:
Basically, it was… in the beginning, it was very hard and difficult process to get used to all the new surrounding in terms of cultures, customs, and without knowing of language, it was hard to land any job, and we went to…we started to study language to the extent that we can communicate freely to…go to different places, to communicate with people, and finally we went to college to some…to get some kind of degree and majors that we can utilize in this country.
Immigration
Eliza, a 48-year-old immigrant from Belarus, has been in the United States for 23 years. Her immigration to this country was aided by a helpful nonprofit organization:
Actually some immigrate – some organization help us to – with immigration. It was Jewish organization, NYANA, which, upon arrival to this country – actually, we started with this organization, they gave us some input, how to…whatever, how to start our new beginning in new country, and this way, at least – okay, this way, we can rely on something to give us a hand.
