Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Mary

"Most beautiful moment in life, go."

"Alright, ummm...when I first learned English and when I was actually able to understand what the heck was going on [in English]. So, I learned English as a second language because I only spoke Vietnamese as a child. But then when I first went to kindergarten, everyone spoke this alien language called English. So, I was like 'What the heck is going on?' So my counselor and my older sister had to help me learn English."

"What was it like being in kindergarten and not knowing English when everyone around you used it?"

"Terrible. The first day I went home, I was like 'Mom and Dad, what is this language that people are speaking? I can't understand them! They're not  speaking the same language I'm speaking.' It was terrifying. And every time we had writing tests, like can we write our name and everything, I knew what my English name was—that was the only thing I knew how to say in English—but I could even write it down. So every time we had little writing tests, it'd just be little squiggly lines and drawings."

"How long did it take you to become comprehensive?"

"Well, I finally learned how to speak English near the middle of the year of kindergarten. And then, I was able to read it, but the odds of being able to comprehend it were still really low. Like I was able to  understand most of it, but when we read little stories and had say what happened, I was like 'What am I doing?'"

"What feeling did you have when you realized you could [understand English]?"

"Oh my god, it was amazing. I was like 'I can finally understand what the shits going on!' -laughs- Because, like, I had a really elementary understanding of English for the longest time, then my teachers and my librarian, near fifth grade, kind  of helped me get interested in books. They'd be like 'Oh! You should read this and this.' so then I started reading a lot more too and surprisingly, I like it."

"What was the social effect of not knowing English? Were you kind of isolated?"

"Um, yeah. I felt isolated for a good half year in the beginning, but for the most part it just felt kind of really terrifying because you're the only one who doesn't know what the heck is going on and you feel different because you're not like them."