Language and Literacy NarrativeSahed Saad Professor Natalie Zimmerman Engl 11000 – Freshman Composition Language and Literacy Narrative Revised Draft September 15, 2025 “Between Two Englishes” Isn’t it fascinating how people consume two forms of water on a regular basis differently? Some consume its solid form, ice, with coffee or tea to refresh themselves; others would just be content with a small sip of liquid water. But how complex would it get if some mystical chemicals were to be mixed with it, which is inseparable whether the consumer prefers it or not, along with its two mentioned form? That’s how my experience has been with language and literacy. On my familial and cultural side, in Bangladesh, I was taught Bangla since childhood, while on the other hand, academically I was attending a British curriculum school starting from pre-K until my high school sophomore year. Everything was just going perfectly well, including speaking English, learning grammars, and the strict restrictions regarding literature classes; however, it was a major turning point in terms of language and literacy when I was transferred to an American high school in my junior year. It’s like having both iced coffee, and water, the two Englishes, and my mother tongue, the inseparable chemical ingredient simultaneously. Although it might seem similar to any bilingual student in the USA, the real-life situations I had to deal with were greatly unexpected from my proficiency level. My very first day of high school junior year ol in a calm neighborhood in the Bronx began amazingly. The staffs and students seemed friendly until I realized although the language is same, there are vast differences when it comes to casual conversation, word choices, accent, etc. between British and American English. One thing I noticed from the ELA class I had earlier that day was the variations with writing words and crafting sentences, which overwhelmed me. Specifically, the spellings and sentence structures looked unusual to me compared to what I learned before, and it made me second guess my own writing. .I was constantly asking myself how to adjust myself in an environment that I am familiar with but also unfamiliar at the same time. As I kept paraphrasing each sentence I hear, I knew I had to take on this challenge to adapt quickly for better learning, which is why I had to transfer. The precise observations I had so far led me to the conclusion that I have to follow two steps to familiarize myself with American English: to listen carefully and then to put that into real practice. For the first few weeks, I challenged myself to listen more intently to the conversations going on around me, whether in classroom, or cafeteria. I was making myself comfortable with the word choices used in both speaking and writing. I especially planned to grab the specific trendy terms, or in other words, the Gen-Z conversational words for smooth communication with my classmates. From my prior exposure to English, I learned it in a very formal way; so incorporating these local terms added another layer of complexity. For instance, a term that we, the teens, might just use for mockery, might not even be counted as existential in literature. On the other hand, I also had to make sure that I follow the American convention of speaking, reading and writing, which I was accomplishing by reading US History textbooks and figuring out the sentence structures. After the observational phase and figuring out the ways to engage in a conversation, I stepped into integrating it directly into speaking. Although balancing these two perspectives to better thrive in this new situation was difficult, the continuous learning was eventually leading me to some improvements. After a week or two, at lunch, I was sitting and playing cards with a group of students which I became friend with recently. The friendships came along the way as I was pushing myself beyond the comfort zone and actually practice my speaking styles talking with my classmates. I was nervous because I didn’t know if I would sound different. When I spoke, I noticed their looks at my accent; but then they laughed when I used the phrase “That’s fire, it be like that sometimes” I learned from class that day. Not only it was a very local style of saying it but also somewhat trendy for teens like us. I really took the efforts to connect to friends because it was the only way for me to get comfortable speaking local English not just in school but also as a key for amazing interpersonal skills. That’s when I started to see my growth. I kept pushing myself beyond my comfort zone to not only adapt to the speaking style but also work on the accents. The twist was learning British in a foreign country, not in main England, that resulted in further complexity to deal with. Although it didn’t really seem like a big deal, I was aware of the fact that as long as I am able to make myself clear to the person I am talking to, it should be fine. As I was handling both the language and literacy side of adapting to the new English style, I met one of my classmates who referred me to join extracurriculars, especially the YML (Young Men’s Leadership) Club. After joining the club, I found out that it was more helpful to develop myself; soon I was able to be part of the student leads which significantly boosted my public speaking and presenting skills in American English. That was just a stepping stone for me to even go further for leadership roles in schools after I noticed great connections with all of my friends. As I utilized my junior year to prepare myself for the best, I ran a campaign to be the secretary of Student Government along with my classmates. I still remember giving the manifesto against three other candidates, who have been part of the school even before me, but triumph is for those who strive! Unbelievably, being in such an admirable leadership role just as someone getting through challenges in language and literacy have significantly impacted my academic and extracurricular journey. Thus, over the course of a consistent period of time in my first semester of junior year, I adapted myself with the right skills for better learning environment. In terms of how it connects to larger social realities, I would say that it mirrors the concept of cultural diffusion, where people have to adjust to social practices, languages, accents, etc., which in my case is implicitly the fact about highlighting the key differences in two dialects of English and adapting to what I needed in a new scenario. Moreover, it also reflects how our day-to-day interactions within the society persuade us to follow certain traditional aspects that in turn makes each community unique based on several factors, including languaRead more“Language and Literacy Narrative”
