Month: August 2020

Even though, I’m half Chinese and half Korean, I’ve only been able to speak Mandarin. My father is fluent in Korean but chose to speak only in English to my brother and me growing up. When I was 8, my grandmother grew frustrated in the fact that I was illiterate in the Korean language and sent to a Korean school at her church. I remember being put into the ugly white polo shirt that was my uniform and sitting in the classroom filled with other Korean kids. Turns out, that school was for kids who were already Korean speakers and was intended to teach them how to read and write in Korean. I didn’t understand anything that was being taught, and eventually, I stopped trying to understand and began doodling and drawing all over my workbook. The teachers eventually noticed that I wasn’t paying attention in class anymore and had another teacher sit by me in class to help me. However, for some reason, no one realized that I couldn’t speak Korean? Eventually, I came to the conclusion that they believed I was a student with special needs. My grandma pulled me out of the class after 2 months.

Background: fluency in my mother’s language and illiteracy in my father’s language

Description of school: program full on Korean speaking kids, ugly white polo uniforms with navy blue lettering,

Struggle: couldn’t understand anything, teacher specifically sat next to me but didn’t do much, they thought I was a special ed kid, still confused as to why no one realized I couldn’t speak Korean

Conclusion: grandma pulled me out and never tried to teach me Korean again

My full name is Sabrina Sarah Cha.

I was named Sabrina by my parents who were avid fans of the 1954 film, starring Audrey Hepburn, Sabrina. However, this film isn’t well known to the generation I grew up in, and because of this, people often assumed my name had a relation to the American television sitcom, Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This never bothered me as I haven’t seen the film I was named after either.

My middle name, Sarah, is my paternal grandmother’s Catholic name. I actually only recently discovered that my grandmother and my late grandfather had actually adopted their Catholic names together, naming themselves Abraham and Sarah. I am also the only one of my cousins who was given an English middle name, while they were all given Korean ones. I was always told that this was because I was the only girl born in three generations of the Cha family.

My last name Cha is not a very common surname in Korea. In Chinese, a literal translation of my last name translates it to che, or “car.” Growing up, I learned that there was only one clan in Korea that used the surname, Cha, meaning everyone with this last name today is virtually somewhat related to one another. However, I’ve never met anyone with this surname that wasn’t part of my family.

My name is Sabrina Cha and I’m a first year Business Marketing major. I’m from Irvine, California, where I was born and have lived my whole life. The city of Irvine has been recognized to be one of the best places to live in the country, notably for its quiet neighborhoods and good school district. Having personally graduated from its schools, I can testify that it was quite a competitive experience. Since entering quarantine, my hobbies have included listening to music, watching TV, and going on occasional, socially distanced walks with some friends. However, I’m currently trying to find new ways to efficiently pass time.

Welcome to your brand new blog at University of San Francisco USFblog.

To get started, simply log in, edit or delete this post and check out all the other options available to you.

For assistance, visit our comprehensive support site, check out our Edublogs User Guide guide or stop by The Edublogs Forums to chat with other edubloggers.

You can also subscribe to our brilliant free publication, The Edublogger, which is jammed with helpful tips, ideas and more.