My
Literacy Journey
I was born and raised in Medina,
Saudi Arabia. I grew up in a very educational family. Therefore, I had to go to
school, and going to school was like torture to me, like any other kid. To
contrast, in some ways I liked school so much because of my friends. Also some
of my classes were interesting to me and I enjoyed every minute of them. One of
the classes that I really liked was English. English is a very interesting
language for me and I was very passionate about learning more. Learning a
second language was a dream to me. Hearing all the American actors and
actresses talking in English was like “what is that language?” I wanted to
understand what they were saying. So I started to learn words in English.
I
started learning writing and reading when I was in the 6th grade. I
liked learning English so much when I was in elementary school. I practiced
reading a lot by myself at home, so I do not have any problems with reading.
Reading was enjoyable for me even if I did not understand the words. With
writing, I had a big problem which was how to get ideas to write about. The
only topic that we wrote about in school was a background about ourselves. It
was too easy for me only because I memorized all the words that my sister wrote
for me so I could pass the exam. My problem in writing was that I couldn’t come
up with my own words. In addition, I did not have much vocabulary to help me
write more.
I
took myself into another level when I went to middle school. I had more
knowledge than when I was in elementary school. That made me wanted to explode
in my class with all that knowledge that I had. By then, I was obsessed with
learning English. Watching English movies was like a snack for me. One more
thing was very helpful for me, talking with my best friend in English. My
friend’s name is Abdul Majed, and he speaks English very fluently, so I was
very happy to speak English with my best friend. We spoke almost every day in
English.
When
I went to high school, I was one of the best students in the English class. I
had quite a good knowledge about English. English was one of my favorite
classes of all time. My reading skill was in good shape at that time. I read my
English text book more than once, because I enjoy reading a lot in Arabic and
English. Speaking in English became one of my pleasures and enjoyable things in
my life. Therefore, going to America and using my English to study there was like
a dream to me.
One other thing that attracted me to
English is the English movies. I’m obsessed with English movies. Therefore, my
biggest dream is to be a famous actor in Hollywood. I love acting horror and
sad scenes. I started acting in Egypt for one year. I was obsessed to the point
where I went to the mirror and practiced one of my favorite scenes from a movie
that I like by myself. I even wrote a small horror script just for fun. Also I tried
to write short stories that talk about me within the horror genre.
After
I graduated from high school, I decided to go and finish my bachelor in the
United States. My first visit to the United States was like a dream coming
true. I was so excited, frustrated, happy, and sad at the same time. I had many
questions about how my life was going to look in the United States. In order to
get into college, I had to get a high score in TOFOL exam, and my score was not
good enough to get me to the University. My writing skill was even poor, so my
lowest score in TOFOL exam was in the writing. Therefore, I went to study at
the American Language Institute first. When I came to United States, I realized
that my knowledge about English is nothing compared to what I was used to in my
country. It was difficult for me to catch up with Americans because they speak
too fast and most of the words they are using are slangs. Also the vocabulary
that I had was not enough to make me survive in college life. Therefore, I
wanted to work hard on my English and develop myself more.
American
Language Institute was a very helpful step for me to put my feet on the road to
University life. In American Language Institute, they gave me more confidence
to talk in English and help me develop my writing, speaking, reading, and
listening. I had great teachers and professors that taught me everything I need
to survive in college.
In
the American Language Institute, I had different classes every two days. Two of
them were writing and reading. The writing class was very interesting to me. It
was in the fall semester 2013 taught by Dr. Mariah Huston. In the class, we had
to make a research paper and write a book. I did not know my capability in
writing, and I always doubted myself when it came to writing in English, but
after I took Dr. Huston’s class, she made it easier than it seems to be. She
also gave me confidence to write in English and helped me a lot. Writing a book
was one of my biggest achievements in the fall semester 2013. The book was
inspired by my personal experience with demons. I was very happy and satisfied
with what I did in that class. There were other classes in the American
Language Institute that taught writing different kinds of essays. One of them
was to write an essay after observing a movie, and the other class was to write
a research paper based on your major.
Going
throw my literacy autobiography made me think of where I started and where I am
now. In the beginning of my journey with literacy, I was so passionate about
learning English. English is something that I wanted to learn since I was a
child. It even helped me to realize my dream which is to be an actor in
Hollywood. It was difficult to write and read in another language. But, all I
did as a child was to learn more about this language. Even now I am still
learning English and I will keep on learning English, because there is no end
in learning.
