The Way This Non-English Speaking Immigrant Was Treated When He Arrived In The US Is Going Viral
Language and identity are firmly back in the headlines lately, after video footage of an aggressive man berating Spanish speakers in a New York deli became a major talking point.
“They should be speaking English, because this is America!” he ranted, despite there being no law or constitutional support for this claim, as the U.S. has no official language. As a counter to all the negativity around the story, and the history of people trying to force others to speak English just because, read this viral Twitter thread about a young Korean immigrant who was inspired and motivated to learn English by the kind actions of his teacher.
T.K, the voice behind the Ask A Korean blog, shared the beautiful story of his formative experiences in the U.S. as a non-English speaking 10th grader who was struggling to come to terms with not being able to express himself. Sure, he had knowledge, but he felt helpless and frustrated at school because that knowledge was suddenly quite useless. But then along came his biology teacher Ms. Gallagher, who recognized his struggles and his potential, and decided to go the extra mile to ensure that T.K felt valued and included.
The moment has stayed with T.K ever since, he was motivated to learn English to a high level and is now a successful attorney and renowned blogger. But it all began with a little encouragement and welcoming spirit. He reminds us that the USA as it is today was built on immigration, and newcomers require kindness and patience to adjust to their new surroundings. There are many ways of becoming an American, and bullying people over things like the languages they speak, or aren’t yet able to speak, certainly doesn’t help!
Scroll down to check out T.K’s story for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
A story about the experiences of a young Korean immigrant has gone viral for all the right reasons
Image credits: Daniel Lee (Not an actual photo)
T.K, the voice behind the Ask A Korean blog spoke about living in the U.S. as a non-English speaking 10th grader
Other people reacted to the story
Well done Ms Gallagher. You made a difference that day, but taking an interest in an individual student. It would have been easy for her to just ignore his paper, but she cared to know if he was smart of not so she made the effort.
as a first-gen american who constantly had/has to play translator, i wish more people would be this patient. especially with some of my older relatives. people are convinced they're senile or confused, but they really are very sharp. it's just difficult for them to express that in english.
Yea, a lot of my family only speak spanish but I dont see them often, but I can understand spanish almost as well as english, except when speaking it Im slower because I dont do it on a daily basis. So whenever I have people come in at work who I can tell are struggling with saying something in English and they can speak Spanish, I always invite them to ask me in spanish and warn them that my spanish speaking isnt as good, but I can understand well. We all end up repeating ourselves sometimes, but in the end we will understand each other. And if they cant speak spanish (Ive had some customers visiting here from china and korea) they were struggling a bit to say certain things but through gestures and lots of repeating we worked it out. Some of them were the sweetest people too. I always love when they tell me stories about their trip or something random even as Im checking them out and also how happy they look when I take extra time to help them.
I don't if anyone would read this but I wish I had a teacher like that when I suddenly changed countries. I knew everything in my own language but didn't know the word in English. I didn't know the name of a triangle with three equal sides was and I was in Year 10. My teacher was mocking me and the whole class was snickering. My teacher thought I haven't been to school before. I used to be a smart kid but all of a sudden due to the language barrier I wasn't. I went home and cried that day. I said I wanted to go back. But then my dad told me to work hard and show them how cool being bilingual could be. So I did. I worked hard. I could finally show my teacher that I wasn't an immigrant who hasn't been to school before. I showed my class that I was smart as well. Plus I was fluent in two languages. It took me a long time to redeem my self, but it was worth it. I hope no one ever gets a teacher like the one I had. Everyone deserves a Ms. Gallagher in their life.
Aqua Sky - you certainly had an ignorant teacher. I cannot understand why anyone would think mocking a person who is struggling is at all appropriate - regardless of why that person is struggling. Even if a person isn't smart it's hardly their fault. I'm really glad it turned out well and that your hard work paid off.
Well done Ms Gallagher. You made a difference that day, but taking an interest in an individual student. It would have been easy for her to just ignore his paper, but she cared to know if he was smart of not so she made the effort.
as a first-gen american who constantly had/has to play translator, i wish more people would be this patient. especially with some of my older relatives. people are convinced they're senile or confused, but they really are very sharp. it's just difficult for them to express that in english.
Yea, a lot of my family only speak spanish but I dont see them often, but I can understand spanish almost as well as english, except when speaking it Im slower because I dont do it on a daily basis. So whenever I have people come in at work who I can tell are struggling with saying something in English and they can speak Spanish, I always invite them to ask me in spanish and warn them that my spanish speaking isnt as good, but I can understand well. We all end up repeating ourselves sometimes, but in the end we will understand each other. And if they cant speak spanish (Ive had some customers visiting here from china and korea) they were struggling a bit to say certain things but through gestures and lots of repeating we worked it out. Some of them were the sweetest people too. I always love when they tell me stories about their trip or something random even as Im checking them out and also how happy they look when I take extra time to help them.
I don't if anyone would read this but I wish I had a teacher like that when I suddenly changed countries. I knew everything in my own language but didn't know the word in English. I didn't know the name of a triangle with three equal sides was and I was in Year 10. My teacher was mocking me and the whole class was snickering. My teacher thought I haven't been to school before. I used to be a smart kid but all of a sudden due to the language barrier I wasn't. I went home and cried that day. I said I wanted to go back. But then my dad told me to work hard and show them how cool being bilingual could be. So I did. I worked hard. I could finally show my teacher that I wasn't an immigrant who hasn't been to school before. I showed my class that I was smart as well. Plus I was fluent in two languages. It took me a long time to redeem my self, but it was worth it. I hope no one ever gets a teacher like the one I had. Everyone deserves a Ms. Gallagher in their life.
Aqua Sky - you certainly had an ignorant teacher. I cannot understand why anyone would think mocking a person who is struggling is at all appropriate - regardless of why that person is struggling. Even if a person isn't smart it's hardly their fault. I'm really glad it turned out well and that your hard work paid off.