Carolina, a 48-year-old immigrant from Romania who has been in the United States for 13 years, now completely understands English and speaks it well enough that others understand her as well. She explains why she found it necessary to learn English:
No, no. They didn’t force me, but I forced myself because I have to live here. And if I didn’t know how to speak and I didn’t understand the people around me, I was supposed to find a job. I was supposed to speak some words in English at least to tell my name, phone number, blah blah blah, the address. I did it for myself, no one helped me. I paid for three months [of] second language learning.”
