AYALA 1

Celeste Ayala-Silva
Professor Rebecca Lawson
English 113A
December 10, 2014
Word Count: 1218
Essay 1: Language and Literacy Rough Draft
English was difficult for me while growing up because Spanish is my first language
learned. Understanding the material while learning the language was a big roadblock I overcame
throughout my school years. First of all, getting used to the language was a worry for me.
Following that was a lack of desire to read books and actually have interest in them. My last and
recent concern in which I feel I havent succeeded to the best of my ability is my writing skills.
These obstacles I mentioned are all a part of me increasing my education towards English. This
was always important to me, because not being familiar with the language can be a prejudice to
society.
Learning to speak, write, and read English when I was young was the hardest time I had
throughout my school years. I always found myself helpless trying to complete simple
assignments that were assigned to help with the English language. I would then get bad reports
on the work I had turned in. My teacher decided that the next obvious step for me to take was to
attend tutoring after school. Attending tutoring was the best decision my parents and I made. It
gave me the extra help I definitely needed in order to get better in English. One great advantage I
had from my teacher was that she was bilingual and could explain confusing parts to me in
Spanish. Committing to every class, as well as tutoring helped me understand the basics of
English. Tutoring really helped me advance in learning the English language. By the end of my

1st grade I knew how to read child books and enjoyed it because it impressed me how much I had
learned. I was actually one of the few from my classmates that knew how to read continuously
without stopping or stuttering. At the end of the school year there would be a parent meeting
where they have a couple of students read their favorite short story. I was one of those students,
and while I was reading my favorite book I saw how proud my parents were of me, even though
they didnt understand what I was saying. It was such an accomplishment to know that I had
overcome the language barrier to the point where I was familiar with the English language.
Learning English was just the beginning, now I needed to improve my knowledge of it.
For the whole of elementary and middle school I had not much trouble with my English studies.
It wasnt until I got to high school where I started having trouble again. I chose to take English
honor courses during high school thinking it was going to be the same but maybe a bit of more
work. After half of my elementary school years, I stopped reading because for me fun time was
no longer reading. It was now to either watch TV or to play outside with friends. The mistake to
stop reading had a negative effect on me because in high school we were required to read books
the teacher would assign to the class. We would have tests covering each chapter to see our
understanding on the book. Since I didnt want to read the books I figured that reading
summarys of the chapters would help, so I started using a site called sparknotes. However, I
noticed I still got bad grades on the tests because the summaries wouldnt cover everything I
needed to know. I gave up trying to avoid reading the books required, and you would be
surprised how much I actually enjoyed the books. It felt great being involved in the discussions
the class would have about the readings. If I was ever confused about any reading my classmates
or teacher were there to explain them to me. I had improved so much in my grades and the cause
to this was just to simply read what I was supposed to. Later in high school around my junior

AYALA 3
year I was having difficulty in English once again. This time it wasnt the language or the
understanding of books, it was my writing skills. At this point the teacher gave more writing
assignments then what I was used to. It was hard for me to get the hang of it even though we
would go through the steps and she would give examples on writing essays. Ive always been
self-conscious about my writing because I would get bad grades on them with teacher comments
saying, Im confused or didnt cover the topic. Re-write it. Along with those types of
comments, I would also get my papers back being covered with red markings as if she was
rewriting the whole thing. I remember glancing over my friends paper and having comments
like good job and a bit of corrections. She would then ask me how I did and I would just turn
around my essay and say horrible. These bad experiences have led me to dislike and feel
discouraged about writing assignments.
Ultimately, by my senior year, I got better in my writing but not as much where I would
usually get As or amazing comments on my papers. The essays I would get decent grades on
would be personal narratives. This was because it was about my life and me and all I had to do
was to think back to memories that made connections to my topic. These types of papers I
enjoyed writing because I wouldnt have much trouble in, regardless the grades I got from them.
There was a time where my English teacher had us write an introduction for a job we would like
to apply to. I thought about my future and how I would be attending college. I decided I would
dedicate the introduction to somewhere I would like to work at the college. I wrote it on my
interest working at the bookstore and included all the skills I had for the position. Once my
teacher corrected the introductions, she passed them back to the class. Although I was confident
about the paper, I still had the doubt that I wouldnt get higher than a C on it. I got my paper
with the letter grade A marked on top, with very little corrections maybe for some grammar

incidents and with the comment good work at the top of the paper. To my surprise I was one of
the few that got an A on this assignment and it was such an honor for me. I still have this paper
with me safe and handy just in case I need to use it.
In my English career so far, Ive had so many obstacles in learning the material required.
Although it took me a while to overcome and understand the troubles I mentioned, Im relieved
that I never gave up on them. Now Im comfortable enough to where if I dont understand an
assignment I know I can always go to tutoring or office hours, as well as asking any of my
classmates. If it werent for my lack of understanding towards English, I wouldnt have pushed
myself to seek for assistance in this material. I will forever be thankful for the help that was
provided to me from different sources.