How I became Bilingual

I am fully Korean. South Korean. But, unlike most Koreans, I can speak two languages very fluently.

How fluently, you may ask. Well, let me tell you something. This is my first year in America as a college student, and I have met so many Americans. Even my roommate is fully American. Well, one of my best friend here at first did not know that I was an international student until I told him that I was fully Korean. He was surprised. Not only that but all of the people that I have met said the same thing to me.

I am not trying to brag here. I am trying to tell you how I became an excellent bilingual.

On my fourth year breathing in this beautiful planet called Earth, I was now speaking Korean fluently. When I wanted something, instead of crying, I would tell my mom what I wanted, why I wanted and that I really, really wanted it. My parents now knew my Korean was good enough to start learning a new language. Some might think, woah at four they start learning a new language? Well, not exactly.

To be frank, at age four, who in the world would get anything? They can’t really teach a four year old, especially a boy. And during that time of the year, Korea was hit with this new education trend of secondary language being essential to later success in life and all of the parents were doing it. My parents were no exception. While all of the parents were pushing their spouses into English playhouse, my parents were a little different.

My mom had hired an English teacher named Mr. Kieth to be my “teacher”. But her was more then a teacher. He was my friend. He would play with me in English and would help me speak English while doing things that I loved. I still believe that this English playtime that I had with Mr.Kieth was the reason why I can speak English at all.

Now fast forward to the year of 2007. I am now 7 years old and I was now attending English Kindergarten. This was the place to be. We would speak English, play with friends, and just play and play. My English skills went up to while being there, but it was not enough.

By the age of 10, I was speaking English at a decent level. I was able to speak to my English speaker fluently (sort-of) and could start understand what The Incredibles were saying without looking at the subtitles. I was getting the hang of English. I thought I was good enough.

But not for my parents it wasn’t.

They thought that I was not perfect enough. They wanted me to become American. They wanted me to speak and act like an American. And one day, they gave me a choice: to either stay in Korea and finish Korean elementary school, or go to Canada and experience the Western education system.

Without hesitation, I chose to go abroad and study. I wanted the taste of Canada. I wanted to live outside my box. I wanted to go there, not to study, but to experience what it was like to live in Canada. And so me, my mom and my brother went to Canada for a year and a half. Little did I know that this choice changed my life for-ever.

I graduated Augustan Traditional School in British Colombia, Canada in the year of 2010. I was sad that I had to leave Canada and my mom took notice. She asked me carefully if I wanted to move back to Korea and go to an international school there. International school is a school where they have American boarding school in a country outside of US. It was expensive, but I thought it was worth it.

Starting from 6th grade, I went up the chain, to seventh, to eighth, to ninth, to tenth, to eleventh and finally to twelfth grade. I graduated twice from the same school (middle and high school are inside the same building). After graduating, now I came here, to USA, for my final education.

Within that eight years of being inside the international school, I improved my English skill to near perfection. I know that I can not beat a native American, but I can get real dang close to them, even though I am not a US citizen. I have worked hard to master the art of bilingual speaking and now I think I have come to my peak. I will continue to get better and better, but it will not be the same as before.