Students adapt to new language, new culture

The English Language Development (ELD) program helps students who have immigrated to the United States who do not speak English fluently by giving them a base in the English language and American culture while also encouraging them to maintain their roots.

“I think a theme of what I do or one of my philosophies is to help my students acculturate not assimilate,” ELD teacher Jennifer Cuker said. “They come in with these rich backgrounds and I strongly encourage them to hold onto those backgrounds and those languages but add English and add U.S. culture to their repertoire.”

The 50 students in the program are like any other teenagers who enjoy playing sports and hanging out with friends.

“I enjoy playing video games and playing soccer, and I enjoy being at school and learning,” freshman Maged Samwael, who immigrated from Egypt five months ago, said.

Almost all of these students moved to the United States for a chance at a better life. Some came alone while others came with their families.

“[I moved here] by myself, but my sister came later and now I am staying with my grandmother,” sophomore Nate Maloney, who moved from Thailand in 2013, said.

“I came to the United States by myself,” junior Ladyslaine Campos, who immigrated from Brazil five months ago, said. “It’s hard for me because I can’t see my mom or my other family [in Brazil].”

Campos lives with one of her father’s friends in the United States but she calls home frequently to keep in touch with her parents and friends.

According to Maloney, he knew very little about the United States before moving here.

“I had no knowledge of the United States,” Maloney said. “[But I moved] for a better life and more opportunities.”

Similarly, for freshmen Kathleen Nascimento who moved from Brazil in 2014 and Sorata Emoto who immigrated from Japan in 2016, all they knew about the United States prior to moving here was what they saw in movies and certain American holidays.

“I thought it would be more like High School Musical… but it’s not so much like that,” Nascimento said.

“I know some events like Halloween and Thanksgiving,” Emoto said.

Most of these students arrived to the U.S. thinking they were simply going on a vacation or visiting family; however, most ended up staying and enrolling in the public school system.

“I was really excited [about coming to the United States] because I thought I was just traveling,” Nascimento said. “Everything was new and everything was pretty. I was in New York. I went to Disney and Universal and everything was pretty and amazing and I wanted to live here, but it is different when you are just traveling.”

“I came to visit my aunt for a vacation but I did not go back,” junior Larissa Sass De Oliveira, who moved from Brazil in 2016, said. “My parents went back but I stayed here.”

Despite being practically thrown into a completely different environment, Campos explained that people were very accepting of them when they first arrived.

“When I first came here, everyone made me feel right at home and made me feel comfortable,” Campos said.

The ELD students may be from different countries but all share a similar aspiration to attend college in the U.S. or back in their home countries and pursue a better life with the help of the foundation they gained through the ELD program.

“I think I am going back to Brazil [after high school] and going to college there,” Oliveira said. “I like a lot of things about space but I do not know [if that’s what I want to major in yet].”

“I think I will go to college in New York [after I graduate high school],” Nascimento said. “I want to live there. It is very similar to where I come from.”

According to Cuker, despite being from different cultures on opposite sides of the world, her students have created their own support system by having the common experience of moving to the United States.

“You have a student from Brazil and a student from Japan with very very different cultures, but they have that common bond that they are both here and they are both in culture shock and learning the ropes of everything and trying to muddle through,” Cuker said.

Maged Samwael was interviewed with the aid of a translator, sophomore Jena Khreim. Ladyslaine Campos was interviewed with the aid of a translator, freshman Emily Pinho.