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Marine Papazyan
Professor Lewis
English 113A
December 12, 2015
Language barrier
Nelson Mandela once said,"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that
goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart." The fine quote by
Mandela has many illustrations to it, of my understanding Mandela is trying to say that the
language you speak can be so powerful in your eyes that it can touch your heart and make you
feel the warmth of knowing a language. Language is so powerful in the world we live in that it
can make or break a person. The words we speak every day make us who we are, language is a
tool we use to help us get those words through. Many of us have a fascinating stories of how
knowing a language has changed our lives forever and this is mine.
My parents were both raised in Yerevan, Armenia My father came The United States in
1988 but my mother came later on a 1995. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. I
have most of my family from my dads side here in California however my mom does not have
any relatives here, they all live in Armenia. I grew up in a very traditional household and the only
language my family spoke was Armenian. There was seven people including me living in my
household at the time: my grandma,grandpa, great grandma, mom, dad, and my younger brother.
The only person that knew how to speak English fluently was my dad because he's been here
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ever since he was 13 years old but my dad never spoke English whenever he was in the house
because no one else did. My mother was going to Valley Community College at the time so that

she can learn how to speak English. I knew some basic English words like hello, how are you,
nice to meet you, see you later. I didn't know how to read, write, or speak English properly. That
was until I reach the age of five where it was time for me to start kindergarten.
On September 6, 2001 it was my first day of kindergarten. My mom woke me up,
dressed me, and took me to school with my aunt. I remember taking my first steps into the school
and how scary it was. I walked in and my teacher greeted us. He suggested that I go to the
cafeteria and get some breakfast while he talked to my mom and my aunt. As I walked in the
lunch room, it was more scarier than the classroom. The lunch lady kept asking me all that I
could not understand. I was confused and embarrassed that I could not understand her . I didn't
know how to inform her that I can speak or understand English properly. I ran into my mom's
arms sobbing and telling her everything that happened with the lunch lady. As my mom was
trying to comfort me my teacher started telling my mom of how they have this great program for
students, whose English is not their first language, and it's called ESL (English as a second
Language). My mom agreed to and from that day forward I took ESL as my English class and
also had extra tutors and online help. I've had to work extra hard and sometimes they after school
to get some help all through elementary school. I realized how much I've been improving, every
day I will learn many a few things. By the time I was in fourth grade could write a whole essay
just like everyone else in the class. All my teachers were so proud and impressed with me,
especially my kindergarten teacher.
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As I graduated from elementary school I moved onto William Moholland Middle School
and later on high school. My new middle school also put me in a lower English class so I could
improve on my spelling and grammar. To be completely honest, I don't think that my middle

school years really improve my writing. I wasn't really focused on my schoolwork, I was
focusing on popularity rather than education. Things changed when I moved to high school, I
went to Magnolia science Academy #2. When I moved to high school I was finally put into a
regular English class. Starting 10th grade is what I really fell in love with English and realize
how much I love to learn about the English language as well as writing essay their poetry. During
my senior year in high school I had a choice being either an AP composition or in regular
English. At first I chose regular English but during the second week I realized that it was a bit too
easy for me and I wanted to challenge myself so I switched it up to AP English. There was a lot
of reading and writing involved but I ended up passing that class with an a. Now I had 10
California State University, Northridge and I can't wait to go more in depth in my English class.
Language plays a big part in our everyday lives, we use it on a daily basis. Stefan Lee
one said," The language barrier is probably the most difficult and takes the longest to overcome."
I completely agree with this quote because I've been through it. It took me almost my whole life
trying to make the English language a part of me and yet I still haven't perfected it. There are so
still many more things that I still need to learn. I couldnt do any of it without the ESL and Ap
classes. All I can do is practice because that's what got me here today. Practice makes perfect.