Sometimes we can’t believe what we are living…
I can say how it feels.
Three months ago I applied for an exchange
program to improve my English in USA… and now, I am in Austin for six week to
study in the University of Texas at Austin!
A new experience has started!
Live in another country is an
excellent way to meet people, taste food you had never eaten before, know new
cultures and different ways to make things… and if people speak in a language
which is not your native one… your trip can be a challenge!!!
I really love meeting people from different
parts of the world and to be able to communicate with them, I must speak in
English.
I had studied English a lot of
years, but when arrived to the United States I felt I couldn’t say any word in
English!!! My mind seemed to be blank and my tongue to be sleeping. In
Houston’s Airport I was so nervous as the secretary who checked my passport had
to said to me that I must not be worried about the new country, that everything
will be ok and I will have a really nice time at Austin… She was right!
I have to accept that the first couple of days
I stayed here it was not easy to understand what people wanted to say to me. I
felt lost. I wanted to listen people speaking in Spanish. The first time I
entered to the UT’s classroom and the professor started to speak… I looked at
the faces of my Argentinian classmates and I realized that maybe they were
feeling the same as me. We had to pay double attention to the instructor:
understand what he was saying in English and understand the topic and graphics
he was explaining.
Luckily, people in Austin is very kind!!! So
they don’t have any problem if I ask them to speak slower and clearer. Also, in
the city live people from all over the world so a lot of student are trying to
improve their English too.
One of the best things that really helps me in this trip is that I am not alone... I have an excellent group of Argentinian partners! It's very important for me being part of "Friends of Fulbright", an excellent group with people who always help me if I need, make me laugh and share good moments.
Fortunately, day by day, my listening is better,
my mind is remembering some things I had learnt in Argentina and my tongue wants
to pronounce in a better way.
