How I learned English as a Second Language

And went on to have a career in writing/content marketing

Welcome, budding polyglot! This weeks free post is brought to you by @BowTiedCoquito. I am grateful to him for sharing his story and I think it will be beneficial to read first hand about the benefits of language acquisition. Make sure to follow him at the link above for more!

As an introduction, I must say I found his story to be very similar to my own. I remember sitting down in the standardized testing rooms, taking tests in languages that I didn’t speak. How far we have come. Absorb what you can from his message and get back to that language acquisition.

It’s the end of the school year for most third grader’s. But it’s my first day.

My first day in a new school. A new school that only teaches in English, and whose students and teachers and faculty only speak English.

I settle into my small desk. One of four individually-sized desks all pushed together to make a mini-square. I put my notebook down, and await instruction.

I loosely understand we’re to jot down notes from the board. Context clues help me here more than words.

There’s only one problem.

I don’t write like that.

For the last several years, I’d been writing exclusively in cursive–and in Spanish.

The school I attended in Puerto Rico simply taught that way.

We all wrote in cursive. It was mandatory.

I walk over to the teacher’s desk, she looks up at me, and I do what I can to explain myself.

“I don’t write like that,” I said.

She’s visibly confused.

“Can you write?”

Yes, of course! But not like that.

“Yes but…” I said. What came next was some combination of Spanglish and gibberish. And a slew of nervous hand gestures thrown in there to make matters even worse.

I was simply unequipped with the one word that would’ve helped me explain myself: 

Print.

I could copy letters from a board, regardless of the language. But I wasn’t sure if it was to be in cursive or print. And for whatever reason, I really needed clarity.

It wasn’t until several years later that I recalled this event, and laughed at my younger self.

In hindsight why would it matter? But I was in third grade. Spare me some grace.

That’s where my memory of that first day ends. And my earliest memory of reading English, in print, begins.

I’m in sixth grade. And I’m finally starting to get a grip on English. Or so I thought.

One day, our teacher began to explain the format of our State’s standardized test.

We’d have limited hours to complete each section. And if you didn’t pass, you’d be considered to be held-back a grade.

A high-pressure event.

On test day, someone came into the room and called me out by name.

“Coquito, please pick up your things and come with me,” they said.

A look of pity from my teacher. And a glance of mockery from my classmates.

I then found myself in a room full of other non-native English speakers. We were about to take the same standardized test.

However, the exam proctor explained one key difference.

We had all day to finish the exam.

I was confused. Embarrassed. And absolutely convinced I did not belong there.

“And begin!”

I open up the exam booklet. Take out my scantron form. And begin answering questions.

My heart was racing. 

But not because I was nervous or worried about the exam.

But because every few questions, I was glancing at the wall clock.

I was timing myself.

I’d memorized my teacher’s instructions, and I was determined to finish each section in the originally allotted time.

There was no way in Hell I was going to take all day to take this test.

Something flipped in my mind that day. 

The realization that no one would save me. 

That it was solely up to me to work my way out of this perceived hole. I’d been half-assing my learning English, at best. And it ended up embarrassing me in a major way that day.

From that moment on I began teaching myself English more intently after school.

Reading A Series of Unfortunate Events and Harry Potter books completely out of order. Or watching episodes of Full House and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air late at night.

If it was in English, I was paying attention.

The following year, I was no longer an ESL student.

I’d become an after school tutor in Math and English (the irony isn’t lost on me).

And I’d taken our State’s standardized test again.

This time with my everyday classmates; scoring in the top ninety-ninth-percentile across the State.

There are many more memories I could share here.

• How my eighth grade teacher pushed me to become a better writer by giving me extra reading and writing assignments.

• How my ninth grade teacher saw potential in my writing and encouraged me to apply to join the yearbook staff.

• How enlisting to become a military combat journalist influenced the way I write and tell stories. Which led me to the career in content marketing I’m in today.

Or how that young Puerto Rican boy (Cartoon) who couldn’t read, write, or speak English ended up:

• Producing an award-winning combat documentary

• Getting a master’s degree in business

• Leading a tech company to fundraise $50M in venture capital during an economic downturn

All of which are great reminders that we are not limited by where we come from, or what we know today. We are only limited by our willingness to work. How did I do it?

Grit. Self-belief. And a whole lot of luck.

Learning a second language is hard work. But it’s not impossible. 

That’s why you must listen to BowTiedOdin

He loves languages, knows a few, and understands what it takes.

Thank you to BowTiedOdin for letting me share my story.

BowTiedCoquito is a content marketer with 10+ years of experience currently working in ecom/SaaS. Coquito writes about content marketing on his Twitter and his Substack, Content Captains.

Conclusion

Amazing stuff. For those of you who have never stood in a room surrounded by people who do not speak the only language you know, it is extremely intimidating. Sink or swim moments. We are always telling people they need to be writing…probably nothing. In the end, there is no comprehensive guide, no tips or tricks to carry anyone across the finish line. Language acquisition requires time, effort, and consistency. That said, it is something that anyone of any age is more than capable of accomplishing. HUGE shout out and thank you to Coquito for sharing and I hope you all enjoyed as much as I did.

For more content find me on Twitter or Instagram. I look forward to seeing everyone’s progress in the months and years to come; and don’t forget to check out Coquito at the links above!

You can do difficult things and be great, so go do difficult things and become great. We will be here rooting for you.