At Eleanor Roosevelt High, there are many students who are a part of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program that gives students with limited English skills who come from another country the opportunity to learn the same subjects as other students, but at a different pace. Among these students, is Liliana Merlos.

Sophomore and level one ESOL student Liliana Merlos came to the United States from El Salvador in January of 2014, joining her parents who were already living here. Because she is level one, Merlos is considered a new beginner. (Inside ESOL there are a variety of levels, ranging from Newcomer to Advanced.)

She informed in her native Spanish that she is “uncomfortable” of being in this level, because she feels that she “will never learn well.”

“It is hard for me to make new friends in this school because I don’t speak English,” Merlos expressed.  Merlos said that she enjoys the US, but at the same time misses her home and has difficulty communicating. “I miss my friends and many other things,” she said.

In comparing school in the US to school in El Salvador, she mentioned that “It is different over here; here they teach more and you can learn more.”

She also mentioned that she is too shy to participate in school activities. Like many other ESOL students, “it’s hard to understand anything that they say and I don’t want to look stupid,” said Merlos. “I am doing well in my classes and I only talk to the people there because we understand each other,” she continued.

Currently, the ESOL program is predominantly Hispanic students, but it is still diverse, with students from many other countries and cultures.

According to Merlos, her struggles of coming to the US were already one thing, but then to not be able to communicate in the country she’s moved in, is another thing. “If I could come to school events like sports, I would, with my friends, but it’s hard when you don’t speak the same language as anyone else,” she said. “Almost no ESOL student attends these events.”

“I wanted to join the Latino Student Association but I did not because of transportation and even in the club they did not speak Spanish,” Merlos said.

“People make fun of me because I don’t speak the same as them,” Merlos said.

“I am learning more and more English in ESOL, and I hope I get to know a lot before I graduate. If I do I will be able to participate in something,” she said.