17yr old Caroline, adopted from Russia, shares her thoughts on language acquisition.

Is there anything that someone could have done differently in America to help you learn English/a new language?

When I first came here, I went to school in a class that was 2 grades below my age. I also repeated that grade. It made things very difficult for me, then and now, not to be with same aged students. I think it would have been better for me to have been in the right grade for my age, but to have tutors or private teachers or extra help in school in order to learn English.

I think another thing that would have helped a little is if the family or maybe someone in school had learned some Russian. It was very hard to communicate when no one could understand our language and we couldn’t understand theirs. It was very stressful and I was very frustrated. I think sharing a few words at least would have made things seem easier.

Even with those thoughts, I can’t totally say that they way I did learn was “wrong”. I’m here 5 years now and I know English pretty well, so I guess it did work.

With language learning, there are two trains of thought. One says that it’s easier for a child to learn English with something called “English immersion”, without using their native language for a while. Others try to help a child learn English acquisition while still using their Russian at the same time. Do you have an opinion about this?

When I came here, my parents tried English immersion and told us not to use Russian. My sisters and I weren't supposed to use Russian even with each other. That made me angry. It made me feel like they were trying to take away part of where I was from and who I was. It made me feel stupid, not being able to use any words to communicate in either language then.

Mom's comment: The girls have been in America for 5 years. Caroline still retains some Russian speaking and reading ability; almost no writing ability. Galina, 1yr younger, understands some Russian words, but cannot speak, read or write. There are 2 other girls from Russia in our family now, so they do have some chances to use what Russian abilities they do have. Mom tries to learn some; the girls all make fun of my fine pronunciation abilities! haha.