Miss (Ms). Suell was an educated and wonderful woman. She was my first ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in America. I studied in her class for one year.
I had a difficult time speaking English when I came to America. Of course, I was born in Japan and raised in a Japanese-speaking environment.
I share my experience at McDonald’s. Soon after I came to Florida, I went to McDonald’s. I wanted to order “Coffee”, but I couldn’t pronounce the “F” sound correctly. So, I said “Kohee”. The cashier didn’t understand what I wanted. I got Coke instead of coffee. The cashier looked like a non-English speaker too. It is common that misunderstanding occurs when different language speakers communicate with each other. 😅
Her English class was fun. I think I studied harder than other students to improve my English. Around February and March, there was the Black History Month Essay Contest at school (I studied in ESL class, but the school was offering technical courses for local students.). I wanted to participate in it because I have liked writing since childhood. But I didn’t have confidence to write in English. I talked to her, and she accepted my English check before submitting.
I wrote about *Benjamin Banneker and the future American president. (Next year Barack Obama got nominated for president.)
*Who is Benjamin Banneker? (English) ↓
At that time, I didn’t know about American history at all. I went to the library and read books. Unlike now, I didn’t have many YouTube videos and internet sources.
After I finished writing, I showed my essay to her. She was reading and started correcting my English.
A moment later, she said to me, “Submit your essay now.”
“Oh, OK”, so I did.
About one month later, she received a phone call while she was teaching. After she hung up the phone, she came to me and said in front of the other students, “Congratulations! You won 3rd place!” Really? I couldn’t believe it. 😲
After class, she talked to me directly. “You did a good job! You were the only person to be selected for this contest as a non-English native speaker. I liked your essay as an African American woman.”
Later, I received a certificate and a cash (gift card) prize.
I kept in touch with her even after I finished her class. In 2014, I wanted to see her again and emailed her. She replied to me, “Come to see me as soon as possible.”
I didn’t understand why she replied to me like that. I had been busy with my job and taking care of my kids. I couldn’t see her soon.
One month later, I knew that she had moved back to her hometown and passed away at age 63.
I was shocked. She never told me about her health issues. I was just sad.
A few years later, I applied for graduate school again. I had a chance to get my tuition paid. I left my first graduate school before graduating, so I wanted to graduate with a degree this time. I chose the same school and major where she studied (She was an English Education major, and I chose non-English track) and completed it successfully.
I Miss Suell.
I am a teacher now.
<true story>
Video & Photos by Youtube & Pixabay
As as esl teacher this is beautiful