Interactions with Black People
I grew up and went to school with black people, and I loved spending time with them and playing with them. It was fun keeping company before I had to start school.
Struggling with Cluster Consonants
I was in this class of students who struggled with cluster consonants. They added vowels between two or three consonants. As an example, ask is pronounced asik. My instructor in this class was no exception; she had the same problem. This made it impossible to understand.
Challenges in High School
The most challenging challenge came when I entered high school. I knew I had a problem with cluster consonants as well; will I be able to reach the same degree of English proficiency as my new classmates? I was a student at my lower grade; I needed to understand whether I had a problem with consonants, as everyone around me was different. They all pronounced cluster consonants with inserted vowels and at some point, I thought I was the one who had the problem. Although we could all spell the words the same, we could pronounce differently and I appeared so different. The teacher made me convinced that I was on the wrong. As we interacted, I read from her page and I developed the same problem. I felt I fit in the class. It was until I joined high school that I noticed I was influenced by my teacher and classmates.
Seeking Proficiency Through Interactions
Despite my problem, I was confident of one thing; I learnt the problem because of people who I interacted with, and I could gain English proficiency if I surrounded myself with proficient people. I had the assurance that my struggle was not permanent. It is true that I would influence my friends’ proficiency and they would influence me. As we interacted, we had to change each other’s lives including the way we pronounce words. I was most certain that finally we would all be proficient since most of my friends did not have the problem. They would color my life.
Comparison to Langston Hughes's Poem
Langston Hughes’s poem “Theme for English B” and my experience compare in a number of ways. First, we were all challenged at some point; I had a problem with cluster consonants pronunciation and he was of different race from the classmates and the teacher. Second, he had the conviction that being a person of color did not make him any different from others the same way I felt that my problem was acquired through interaction and would end with interactions. Additionally, his poem brings out the point that learning is influenced by our neighbors: characteristics of others around us become part of us with time. This was the same case in my childhood: I was fluent in English but the problem of cluster consonants pronunciation among my classmates became part of me. Finally, it is possible to be surrounded by doubts in the process of learning; in my narration, I doubted if I would ever be like other students in my school and Hughes wondered whether his page would be like that of the Whites.
