Sample Essay On Learning English

As an International student whose native language is Arabic, I have a unique set of challenges confronting me as I proceed with my quest for education in the USA. Learning English and making friends amongst the locals are my two biggest challenges.
The biggest challenge is to understand the English language. Because Arabic is my native language, my way of thinking and understanding is not the way people think and understand natively in English. Concepts and theories are understood in a different scheme in Arabic as against in English. Many times, I find myself struggling to understand the words spoken or written in English, while the rest of the class has moved ahead. I find it difficult to stop the entire class to clarify my doubts about language and context. This leaves me very frustrated as I fall back in studies compared to my English-speaking friends. It is not that I have less intelligence. It is just that I am taking more time to understand the context of the words in which the instructions are being passed. I realize that my reading skills also need improvement. I need to read faster, so as to be able to understand faster.
My professor can help me in my problem in understanding the English language by going slightly slower as he explains various concepts in the classroom. I would be very happy if the Professor agrees to take extra classes for me so that I can clarify my doubts. I assure you that I am a quick learner. If the professor gives me this personal attention for three months, I will ensure that I gain the required language skill so as to be on par with all my English-speaking friends.
Another area that is a major challenge for me is the way assignments and research papers are required here. I do not have the experience in the prevalent system of academic writing. When I pick up some information from books, periodicals, and the Internet, I find myself hamstrung in understanding the proper way of putting this information in a research paper. Invariably, I find that I fall short in the methodology of writing the citations correctly. On the subject of citations, I am often confused between the APA, MLA and Harvard styles of citations. I am unable to fathom as to why the different styles have different manners of writing the names of the authors. I feel that writing the full name as in the MLA style is definitely better than writing initials as required by APA. Similarly, I do not understand the need for footnotes in Harvard Style. I am simply unable to remember the different styles by heart, as I do not understand the context and need for such different styles. Further, I am also confused about research methodology. Often, I take information from websites, and my instructor gives me a low grade because the information is not from peer-reviewed journals. I do not understand how websites are lower in quality than journals. After all, websites such as the Wall Street Journal are world famous. Even Wikipedia is the result of open source collaboration of millions of people. I do not understand why sites such as Wikipedia are banned from citations.
My instructor can help me with my understanding of research methodology and citations by preparing a small handout for me to grasp the nuances of these aspects in a better manner. I would very much appreciate if my instructor explains to me the reason we have these different styles of citation and how I should remember each style in a lucid manner. I would be much empowered if I am given some basic exercises to practice the art of citing information correctly. I would also like my instructor to explain to me why Wikipedia is not of good quality. If I am able to cite the information correctly and am able to identify the right peer reviewed papers, my quality of work and research would improve substantially, and my grades in the class would accordingly improve.
I hope I am able to surmount my challenges- understanding English and understanding the art of citations and accessing research papers with the help of my professors.