Roseanna Singletary
Enc 1102- Warren
Journal #4
February 23, 2013
The American Dream
Living The American Dream could mean a number of things too many different people. I
had never given it much thought, until listening to our guest speaker talk about the many
obstacles he had to overcome coming to live in this country as an immigrant. Simple things that
we take for granted were such a challenge for him. Things such as trying to communicate his
thoughts, going to school, looking for a job, or something as simple as trying to purchase a candy
bar from a vending machine, things we do every day without giving it much thought.
I could relate very well to what he was saying about the language barrier and having to
learn to speak English. I recently went on vacation to San Juan Puerto Rico. Although, Puerto
Rico a part of the United States. Spanish is the primary language. We were only there for a week
but traveling, ordering our meals or just trying to call a taxi was horrific. I speak a little Spanish,
but every time I attempted to speak in Spanish, the person I was talking to spoke so fast I was
only able to catch every third or fourth word. This left me feeling aggravated and defeated.
I enjoyed my vacation and Puerto Rico is a beautiful place, but I was so happy the day we
flew back home. I think I talked the lady sitting next to me to death. I was so excited to be able to
talk to someone other than my husband that spoke English. We shared our stories about Puerto
Rico and talked the whole flight. I couldn’t imagine going to live in a country with so many
different cultures and having to learn a new language and a total new way of life.