4 ms·

Have 3 different experiences: 1. We immigrated from Russia when I was 9- didn't speak a word of English (didn't know what "who are you?" meant on the first da

Have 3 different experiences: 1. We immigrated from Russia when I was 9- didn't speak a word of English (didn't know what "who are you?" meant on the first day of class). Spent the first year in an ESL class, within a year I was speaking English freely, all my classmates were also recent immigrants from former Soviet republics so there was very little culture shock (at least in school). But because the class focused on English and little else, I lost the great math skills I had when I came from the Russian system. Took me a few years to get completely comfortable with my new language but by the 9th grade I was one of the top students in all my classes (except math, that skill or rather the interest in the subject never recovered). 2. My cousin's son was born in the US. The parents wanted to make sure his first language was Russian- they only spoke to him in Russian, he went to a Russian day-care, watched only Russian cartoons, had only Russian friends. Then for kindergarden (around the age of 4 or 5) he got sent to a normal American school. The first month or so he experienced what the writer's kids experienced- complete cultural shock, he spent the evenings at home crying that he didn't want to go to school because he couldn't understand anything, but little by little he adjusted and is now comfortable in his new environment. 3. My wife and I met in Moscow last year, she moved to the US six months ago. She's in her early 20s, very smart (finished her university with straight As), had a good job in Moscow and is used to always being the best at whatever she tries. She's studying English full time, but is having trouble adjusting to an environment where she is not independent and has to rely on me not only financially but at least initially on simple things such as grocery shopping or explaining to the women at the nail salon how she wanted her nails done. She's picking up English quickly but the first few months she was afraid of sounding dumb and refused to speak English with anyone outside of a classroom environment. I won't even go into the cultural shock and how difficult the transition has been for her from a popular, successful woman to one with no job or friends in a new country (that's a topic for another post).

ph0rque 15y ago
Yup, I and those around me experienced very similar things. 1. I was also 9 when we arrived here, but we ended up in a rural area that did not have ESL classes, and for the longest time, we were the only Russian-speaking students in our school (long enough that I didn't feel the urge to communicate with them once they arrived, on a regular basis). My math also fell to an above-average level, but I never really cared for it beyond thinking it was nifty. 2. My brother (19 years my junior) experienced something very similar to your nephew, but we took it in stride and he adjusted very quickly. 3. My wife also came from Russia only 5 years ago, she experienced the same feelings as your wife did. 4. We also are experiencing a fourth experience: our oldest speaks Russian fluently for her age. In order for her not to experience shock when she went to kindergarten, we started speaking English with her for about half the day about six months before she started kindergarten (and really, we intentionally exposed her to English all along, but focused on Russian at first). Now that she's in kindergarten, she understands almost everything, and can communicate well enough that she doesn't need to attend ESL, although she still doesn't know all the words in English that she does in Russian. By the way, where are you located?
- olegious 15y ago
  I'm in San Francisco.

ph0rque 15y ago

Yup, I and those around me experienced very similar things. 1. I was also 9 when we arrived here, but we ended up in a rural area that did not have ESL classes, and for the longest time, we were the only Russian-speaking students in our school (long enough that I didn't feel the urge to communicate with them once they arrived, on a regular basis). My math also fell to an above-average level, but I never really cared for it beyond thinking it was nifty. 2. My brother (19 years my junior) experienced something very similar to your nephew, but we took it in stride and he adjusted very quickly. 3. My wife also came from Russia only 5 years ago, she experienced the same feelings as your wife did. 4. We also are experiencing a fourth experience: our oldest speaks Russian fluently for her age. In order for her not to experience shock when she went to kindergarten, we started speaking English with her for about half the day about six months before she started kindergarten (and really, we intentionally exposed her to English all along, but focused on Russian at first). Now that she's in kindergarten, she understands almost everything, and can communicate well enough that she doesn't need to attend ESL, although she still doesn't know all the words in English that she does in Russian. By the way, where are you located?

olegious 15y ago
I'm in San Francisco.