Sucess Stories

Quality of Life Improved for English Language Learner

by Alejandra
Richardson Adult Literacy Center

My name is Alejandra. I am 28 years old. I live with my mother, brother and boyfriend. I have been living in this country for four years. My mother was the first to get here. Three years later my brother, boyfriend and I joined her. She lived with two friends. They were drunkards and my mom was different. My boyfriend and I were tired of having discussions with these guys. Then we decided to get another apartment and I took my little brother with me. My mom wasn’t sure at first, but finally she came with us. It was hard to get an apartment. Luckily I met a woman who helped me to get the apartment and a job. I started to work, but I needed to speak English. I felt frustrated and I left that job and decided to learn English. English helps me a lot in my family life because I help my brother on his schoolwork and we learn more talking to each other in English. I help my mom when she doesn’t understand something. She doesn’t speak English and she is afraid to go to school. She thinks she is too old to learn something, but this year she is trying to go to school. My family is glad that I’m learning English. They know that thanks to that I have a better job in an American restaurant. I started doing prep and sometimes doing dishes. I learned fast and they gave me more hours and more money. I’m happy there because I always learn something new. I know I can get an even better job if I want to. Now things are getting better. I have time to spend with my family. We all like to go shopping and go to the movies. We like to visit the park or zoo and sometimes the museum. One thing I really like about learning English is that when we go to the movies, for example, I can understand what people are saying. We all are looking forward to a better future for my family, and me and my boyfriend because we are going to have our first baby soon.

About the Author

The author is a student in one-to-one tutoring at the Richardson Adult Literacy Center. She and her tutor have been working together about 2 hours a week for almost four years. They started in Laubach Way to English Book 1 and have completed Book 4 as well as many levels of Challenger and the reading of several novels.