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