I’ve helped hundreds of people improve their English Pronunciation and develop nice accents. My book, English Without an Accent, has been very popular with students. In fact, that’s how I began my program – teaching ESL to students at school. Among the first was my wife Julie.
Learning a second language is one of the best things you can do. All of us who are bilingual have a story to tell. The experiences we gain as we learn to communicate with people in a different language are priceless. My wife’s story is my absolute favorite.
When Julie arrived in the U.S., she planned to study English and then enroll at a university. Her first day in the U.S. was spent visiting her school, and learning the bus route. The family that hosted her took care of all the paper work and translated for her. At home she was offered dinner, but was too nervous to eat.
The next day she successfully took the bus to school and spent the day in a frightening confusion as the sounds of English resounded all around her. She didn’t understand a word. Walking to the bus stop after school, Julie realized that she felt hunger like never before in her life. She went into the downtown mall and looked around. She found an Orange Julius.
Julie sat on a bench and thought to herself. How hard could it be? She was, after all, an ambitious student. So she took out her English / Spanish dictionary, and pieced together a sentence. After practicing for several minutes, she approached the Orange Julius. When the man behind the counter looked up at her, she confidently stated:
“I want a hot dog, and a coca cola.”
The man behind the counter quickly turned his back to put together the order, asking for details.
“What size coke?” - “What kind of dog?” - “Chicago?” - “Polish?”
“Do you want onions?”
When Julie didn’t answer, he turned around to look at her. She smiled and repeated:
“I want a hot dog, and a coca cola.”
The man behind the counter looked Julie in the eyes and repeated slowly, pointing at the sign:
“What kind of hot dog do you want? A Chicago dog? A polish dog? Do you want onions? Ketchup? Mustard? How do you want it?”
At this point tears began to tumble down Julie’s cheeks and she repeated again:
“I want a hot dog, and a coca cola.”
The man behind the counter gently smiled at her and began preparing a hot dog, showing Julie his work and waiting for nods of confirmation.
Julie and I love to have lunch at that Orange Julius, and she remembers fondly that day when she learned so much about communication. She’s come a long way. It takes real courage to travel to a foreign land and attempt to speak a new language. Our stories are humorous and fun to share, but we all need to remember to reach out and help those who are trying so hard to communicate in our languages.
Please share your own stories.
Learning a second language is one of the best things you can do. All of us who are bilingual have a story to tell. The experiences we gain as we learn to communicate with people in a different language are priceless. My wife’s story is my absolute favorite.
When Julie arrived in the U.S., she planned to study English and then enroll at a university. Her first day in the U.S. was spent visiting her school, and learning the bus route. The family that hosted her took care of all the paper work and translated for her. At home she was offered dinner, but was too nervous to eat.
The next day she successfully took the bus to school and spent the day in a frightening confusion as the sounds of English resounded all around her. She didn’t understand a word. Walking to the bus stop after school, Julie realized that she felt hunger like never before in her life. She went into the downtown mall and looked around. She found an Orange Julius.
Julie sat on a bench and thought to herself. How hard could it be? She was, after all, an ambitious student. So she took out her English / Spanish dictionary, and pieced together a sentence. After practicing for several minutes, she approached the Orange Julius. When the man behind the counter looked up at her, she confidently stated:
“I want a hot dog, and a coca cola.”
The man behind the counter quickly turned his back to put together the order, asking for details.
“What size coke?” - “What kind of dog?” - “Chicago?” - “Polish?”
“Do you want onions?”
When Julie didn’t answer, he turned around to look at her. She smiled and repeated:
“I want a hot dog, and a coca cola.”
The man behind the counter looked Julie in the eyes and repeated slowly, pointing at the sign:
“What kind of hot dog do you want? A Chicago dog? A polish dog? Do you want onions? Ketchup? Mustard? How do you want it?”
At this point tears began to tumble down Julie’s cheeks and she repeated again:
“I want a hot dog, and a coca cola.”
The man behind the counter gently smiled at her and began preparing a hot dog, showing Julie his work and waiting for nods of confirmation.
Julie and I love to have lunch at that Orange Julius, and she remembers fondly that day when she learned so much about communication. She’s come a long way. It takes real courage to travel to a foreign land and attempt to speak a new language. Our stories are humorous and fun to share, but we all need to remember to reach out and help those who are trying so hard to communicate in our languages.
Please share your own stories.
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