Time transcripts of AlishaKamboj_small

[00:00:00.01]	Hi, my name is Alisha Kamboj

[00:00:04.01]	I'm a student at The Ohio State University, and today I'll be talking

[00:00:08.03]	a little bit about my experience learning English in 

[00:00:12.04]	another country. I was born in Lucknow, India

[00:00:16.04]	and I lived there until I was eight years old. In Lucknow, I 

[00:00:20.05]	went to a Catholic Private School where I completed grades

[00:00:24.06]	pre-K through second grade and basically that's where my

[00:00:28.07]	foundation for learning English and basically my early education

[00:00:32.08]	happened. I remember

[00:00:36.09]	that all of my classes used to be in English except

[00:00:40.10]	I had a class specifically for Hindi, which is the national language

[00:00:44.11]	of India... so all of my classes were taught in English

[00:00:48.12]	and in the Hindi class I learned how to read and 

[00:00:52.13]	write in Hindi, and I would also talk in Hindi at home but

[00:00:56.14]	basically most of my schooling was done in English, so

[00:01:00.15]	I established a good foundation for...learning English

[00:01:04.16]	and speaking it even in India. I remember 

[00:01:08.18]	as a child my parents used to tell me to practice speaking English at home

[00:01:12.20]	even though I would always want to speak in Hindi, so they wanted

[00:01:16.21]	me to... practice and become good at it...

[00:01:20.22]	In school I remember...

[00:01:24.23]	having participated in plays and

[00:01:28.25]	things like that, and I remember that they were always in English because

[00:01:32.26]	it was a Catholic private school, so I remember doing dances 

[00:01:36.27]	and performances in front of an audience as part of a class

[00:01:40.28]	and I remember those being in English

[00:01:44.30]	My earliest memory of actually learning

[00:01:48.30]	English is, I have a really random memory of...

[00:01:52.31]	...one day I remember the teacher telling us how to 

[00:01:56.32]	spell...three letter words like eat and can

[00:02:00.33]	and I remember copying them down from the board...

[00:02:04.34]	I also remember having really

[00:02:08.35]	fat books to practice writing in English in

[00:02:12.36]	so... in India I learned how to write 

[00:02:16.37]	initially in cursive, I know here people learn how to write

[00:02:20.37]	in print, so I still write in cursive because that's how I 

[00:02:24.38]	learned to write. I remember the teachers making us practice each

[00:02:28.39]	letter of the alphabet 20 times and making it look perfect

[00:02:32.41]	and uniform and I remember that students got points off if their

[00:02:36.42]	letters didn't look like the letters the teacher wrote up on the board... So

[00:02:40.43]	people tell me I have good handwriting now, but that's kind of

[00:02:44.45]	how... I learned how to write well and legibly. 

[00:02:48.46]	So, I remember writing

[00:02:52.47]	in English, reading in English, I remember

[00:02:56.48]	becoming better at English as school went on because most of

[00:03:00.49]	almost all of my classes were... in English, so 

[00:03:04.51]	I practiced it from an early age and even though I didn't really speak it

[00:03:08.52]	that much outside of school, school is a big part

[00:03:12.53]	of my life I guess so I got a good chance to practice

[00:03:16.54]	it. [ Interviewer ]: Do you know...

[00:03:20.55]	do you have any memories about kids in other schools that didn't go... 

[00:03:24.56]	you said because you went to a Catholic private school that there was a lot of

[00:03:28.57]	English there... do you have any memories about... you know... more public schools in India?

[00:03:32.59]	and their experiences in English? [ Alisha ]: Yeah, so... in Lucknow

[00:03:36.60]	India, most of the good schools were private schools

[00:03:40.61]	I remember actually having to interview for even

[00:03:44.62]	getting into my school... my parents and I had to both interview separately

[00:03:48.63]	and there is so many kids in the city, that the

[00:03:52.65]	teachers and the principals have to select how many kids can be admitted

[00:03:56.66]	and it's a very competitive process, so even as a four 

[00:04:00.67]	year old, I was taken into school on one

[00:04:04.69]	specific day and I remember specifically that they were like

[00:04:08.69]	Oh what's this? and I was like oh that's an apple, and it's just like a really simple interview process

[00:04:12.71]	but they wanted to make sure that you're... you

[00:04:16.72]	understand what's going on, and your parents are committed and dedicated

[00:04:20.73]	to your education, so the private schools are

[00:04:24.74]	where you had the good teachers, it was competitive

[00:04:28.75]	very selective, so 

[00:04:32.77]	there... they basically provided a better

[00:04:36.78]	education, so my brother and I both went to private schools, I went to an

[00:04:40.80]	all girls Catholic private school, he we went to an all boys Catholic private school

[00:04:44.80]	and... I remember there being

[00:04:48.81]	other public schools in the city, but none of my

[00:04:52.82]	friends went to any public schools, but I do know

[00:04:56.83]	that in the public schools, because they aren't catholic, they aren't run by nuns

[00:05:00.84]	or missionaries, I do know that in the public schools

[00:05:04.84]	most of the classes are taught in Hindi, they're not as advanced

[00:05:08.85]	they don't... they might have an English class or two... but I don't

[00:05:12.86]	think it's like an immersion technique, they 

[00:05:16.87]	don't get as much practice with the language.

[00:05:20.88]	and I think that's one of the reasons why... 

[00:05:24.88]	I was able to succeed as a student in the U.S. after my family

[00:05:28.89]	moved here, because I had had a good foundation for learning the language

[00:05:32.90]	from an early age so I was able to transition well into it.

[00:05:36.90]	[ Interviewer ]: So tell us, you moved to the U.S. after the second

[00:05:40.91]	grade, how difficult was the transition, 

[00:05:44.91]	or how easy was it, going from India to 

[00:05:48.91]	United States? [ Alisha ]: I remember it being

[00:05:52.91]	really different, because I went to an all girls Catholic

[00:05:56.92]	private school, and I... my family moved to Queens, New York when

[00:06:00.93]	I was eight years old, so... the first school I went

[00:06:04.94]	to was P.S. 175 in the middle of Queens and

[00:06:08.95]	there was a lot of diversity, there were all... different kinds of students

[00:06:12.96]	it was a public school... so that was different

[00:06:16.96]	I remember walking into class on my first day of school and I remember that

[00:06:20.97]	the kids were learning about conversion between different kinds

[00:06:24.98]	of volumes, so I remember... my first memory of school 

[00:06:28.98]	in the United States is that the kids were learning about how many pints are 

[00:06:33.00]	in a gallon and how many quarts were in a gallon and things like that, so

[00:06:37.01]	that was also really different, even little things like that...

[00:06:41.02]	obviously, they don't use the terms like gallons and quarts and pints 

[00:06:45.03]	in the U.S. [ narrator correction: India ], so I had to pick up on little things like that...

[00:06:49.04]	but, all in all, learning English or talking in 

[00:06:53.05]	English wasn't too bad... 

[00:06:57.06]	another thing that was different was... slang

[00:07:01.08]	phrases... obviously I wasn't taught

[00:07:05.09]	the meaning of "what's up" or "that's cool dude"

[00:07:09.10]	or things like that... I remember my

[00:07:13.11]	first experience with a slang phrase was in

[00:07:17.15]	science class, we were observing insects and writing our notes about them

[00:07:21.16]	and... I had a partner that I was working with

[00:07:25.18]	our little bug, and I asked her a question about what we 

[00:07:29.19]	supposed to be doing with it, and I was like, oh are we supposed to be doing this

[00:07:33.20]	writing notes about the insect and she said the word "duh"

[00:07:37.22]	and that was my first experience with that word, I hadn't 

[00:07:41.25]	ever heard it before but my first experience with it was kind of 

[00:07:45.27]	a negative connotation with it, so 

[00:07:49.28]	little things like that, but I mean... going to school

[00:07:53.30]	everyday, you pick up on phrases, and... just

[00:07:57.32]	little slang words here and there... 

[00:08:01.33]	all in all, learning English wasn't too difficult

[00:08:05.34]	or talking in English or talking with my peers or anything. [ Interviewer ]: What was

[00:08:09.37]	what do you see as the main differences between learning English

[00:08:13.38]	in the United States and learning English in India? [ Alisha ]: Okay... 

[00:08:17.40]	Well, I didn't actually have to learn English in the United States

[00:08:21.41]	because I didn't go to school... at

[00:08:25.44]	that early of an age, but I would say... I mean 

[00:08:29.45]	one of the main differences is, the way you write. There was

[00:08:33.46]	a huge emphasis on neatness, and writing in script

[00:08:37.48]	and legibly and clearly... so I remember having a specific

[00:08:41.49]	writing class where we practiced writing when I was really young... 

[00:08:45.52]	Another difference would be... I've heard

[00:08:49.53]	that if you are bilingual, it's really easy... you're almost 

[00:08:53.54]	better at understanding the nuances between different languages

[00:08:57.56]	and things like that... so, in India I was able

[00:09:01.58]	to write essays and read books in Hindi, but I was also

[00:09:05.60]	going to school where I was taught classes completely in English

[00:09:09.61]	so, I would say my grammar or my spelling

[00:09:13.62]	or some of my writing probably

[00:09:17.64]	probably improved from just working

[00:09:21.66]	to learn two different languages, and working to master them... 

[00:09:25.68]	I think that was an advantage. [ Interviewer ]: You're

[00:09:29.71]	actually trilingual: English, Hindi and Punjabi.

[00:09:33.73]	What is that like? [ Alisha ]: So... in my house my parents talk

[00:09:37.75]	in Hindi and Punjabi... it's very natural to me know, even though

[00:09:41.76]	they are two completely different languages... I

[00:09:45.78]	can understand them, and I can speak them

[00:09:49.80]	so... but

[00:09:53.82]	I would say after we moved from India, my parents always used to tell me

[00:09:57.84]	to talk in English in India so I could practice it and so I would

[00:10:01.85]	be better in school, but when we moved to New York, 

[00:10:05.86]	my parents started telling me to speak in Hindi at home, so I could practice

[00:10:09.88]	the language and not forget it... after we'd moved

[00:10:13.89]	so that was kind of different for me... so now

[00:10:17.91]	I would say I talk 50% of the time in Hindi and

[00:10:21.93]	50% of the time in English, it's kind of like Hinglish, I mix them

[00:10:25.95]	together, and talk to them, but they

[00:10:29.97]	usually talk to me in Hindi, or a mix of Hindi and English.

[00:10:34.00]	And I'm learning Spanish at Ohio State, so 

[00:10:38.02]	I'd say... just... understanding different languages is really

[00:10:42.04]	easy to pick up another one, because you're able to

[00:10:46.07]	already communicate effectively already in a couple of other ones.

[00:10:50.09]	[  Interviewer  ]: That's great, anything else? [ Alisha ]: No, I think that's good.