Being from South Korea, I did not have the opportunity to experience the school system in America until much later in my academic career. I feel that the age I arrived in the United States made it much more difficult for me to adapt to the differences between the school systems because I entered in university when many of my peers had come earlier in high school to the United States or had grown up in the American schooling system. Upon my arrival, I first went to MT.SAC and then applied to transfer to Cal Poly Pomona. Cal Poly Pomona is one of the best small liberal arts schools in California and admission was very competitive, which is precisely why I was so elated to be accepted. That being said, once I arrived at Cal Poly Pomona, I quickly realized that my English was significantly behind that of my peers due to the lack of experience I had in conversing in English in an academic setting in comparison to my classmates. Based on this experience, I greatly felt that there was a tricky divide in the United States public school system for those who were recent arrivals from abroad to successfully integrate ourselves. What was surprising about this to me was that I had studied that being bilingual gives you an enormous advantage in the rate that you can prospectively learn and comprehend another language, (Callanhan, Rebecca and Gandara, Patricia, 2014). For this reason, and the support from my community, I was able to integrate myself over time into the American education system, which I felt would not have happened otherwise if I did not have support from my culture, family, and university. That being said, even though I have come a long way, I am still having issues participating in class discussions because the level of English is very complex for me to both understand consider participating in.
Ever since I arrived in America five years ago, I have noticed the remarkable difference in the education system than in my home country of South Korea. The reason that I felt this way is that we have an enormous linguistic difference than many international students face in the United States because my native language also has another alphabet. This is something that greatly influenced my rate to be able to comprehend and understand the English language at the university level because I was automatically a step behind in reading comprehension and writing. It is for this reason that I became very shy and did want to speak up in class. Having the courage to converse in the university setting in front of the entire class has been a major challenge for me in my academic career within the United States.
I feel that the key to the American schooling system to improve on the potential linguistic barrier of their students is to have more supportive programing for the prospective university student who is entering the education system. The reason for this is that I knew that many of my peers who were also international students had a great deal of training in their high school through the English as a Second Language (ESL) courses. However, for a student who only comes to America to study for the university level, does not have access to programming that is as supportive as the English as a Second Language (ESL) program, (Darling-Hammond, Lind, 2010). In order to enter a university in America, the student has to demonstrate that they are able to speak English through taking the TOEFL exam. The problem with this method is that the test does not truly assess one’s level of English and whether they are actually ready to study at the university level in English. Additionally, given that there is very little programing available at the university level for those who are still wanting to improve their English, the TOEFL actually does not help the students that it sets out to because there is little recourse for after the exam when the student is thrown into university life in the United States, (Darling – Hammond, Lind, 2010).
The other aspect that greatly shaped by experience as an international student in the United States was the role of the South Korean community that is very strong in Southern California. What is ideal about San Diego is that there are entire Korean neighborhoods dedicated to my culture. This was helpful in shaping my support system as I entered into schooling in the United States because having a connection to one’s cultural outlets for a new immigrant helps to build a support system that leads to success, (Katz, Vikki, 2014). San Diego’s Korean neighborhoods and the surrounding areas of Cal Poly Pomona all had areas that had my countrymen, spoke my native language, and offered the foods that I missed. Additionally, these areas allowed me to find other students who were in a similar situation to me, which helped me to grow a great deal as a new immigrant in the United States.
In addition to experiencing the neighborhoods dedicated to the Korean culture in the United States, I also had a great deal of encouragement and support from my family that gave me the drive to keep up my attendance in an American university. The reason for this is that in my Korean culture, it is custom and required for each child to at least have a university education. Those who were admitted to American universities were also greatly respected for having the opportunity to attend university in English. This is why the government of my home country has hired so many English teachers so that students such as myself can obtain English education in primary schooling in South Korea and then apply to their educational goals later on to attend university in an English speaking country. All of this combined with the support from my family was instrumental to my success in being accepted into a fine university such as Cal Poly Pomona.
Another aspect that greatly shaped my drive to succeed in the American educational system was the fact that my family was the only family who sent their child abroad for university. Thus, there was a great deal of pressure on me to succeed in my endeavors of studying at the university level in English in the United States. My father and brother went to the top university in Korea for graduate school called KIST. My mother also graduated from a single sex high school. The reason that this affects my schooling in America is that none of my immediate family members are able to help me with my homework or to give me guidance on the American schooling system. This creates a disadvantage to me because I have little recourse if something is confusing me. This returns back to the problem discussed earlier with the American schooling system allowing for a transitional program to help international students improve their level of English. At Cal Poly Pomona, I was offered a post TOEFL course to take only if I scored below a certain percentile, but honestly, I really need more classes as do many of my peers. We essentially need one more step after being admitted to support us as we transition into the American schooling system. If this program were provided, it would make a substantial difference in our participation levels in American classrooms at the university level because we would be able to build our speaking confidence as well in the support classes for our main classes.
Another common misconception that I observed upon studying in the United States was the fact that the university assumed that the international students did not want to study more English as they were enrolled in university courses. Relating to my own personal experience, many of us do even though we are busy because we want to get better at English to take those skills back to our home countries. This is important because many international students come to America to get a prestigious degree and then go get better jobs in their home countries. Thus, when we are in America, we want to speak the most English possible in order to be able to say that we are fluent on our resumes when we return to our home countries. This is also a common aspect that is overlooked by universities because as international students, we really want to immerse ourselves in this new and foreign culture that we are studying in whether that is through additional English language coursework, cultural events or social interactions with native speakers. In my experience, my university tended to have sheltered events for international students and then did not consider that we may want to be combined with the American students. Conversely, I noticed that American students were also curious about the foreign students and wanted to make friendships with us as well. If the universities would promote more integration, it would be very beneficial to both the American students and the international students such as myself. The reason for this is that I would get to learn about American culture from someone my own age and practice my English. Additionally, the American student could learn more about my culture as well in order to broaden their horizons.
Works Cited
Callanhan, Rebecca and Gandara, Patricia. “The Bilingual Advantage: Language, Literacy and the U.S. Labor Market.” 2014. Web. 15 May 2016.
Darling-Hammond, Lind. “The Flat World and Education. How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future.” 2010 Web. 15 May 2016.
Katz, Vikki. “Kids in the Middle: How Children of Immigrants Negotiate Community Interaction for Their Families.” 2014. Web 15 May 2016.
