You Can Do IT!

Once there lived a sweet little girl named Natalia. Natalia belonged to simple family of 5 with doting parents and a loving brother and sister. They all lived in the city of Moscow, Russia. 

Natalia was a petite 9 year old girl with brown eyes, cute round nose and always sported a short hairstyle in her auburn hair. The harsh winters used to make her nose and cheeks more pink than she ever liked. She was a talkative, bright and energetic child full of enthusiasm for everything that came across. The words "I Cannot" didn't exist in her dictionary at all. She was not only a good student at school but also enjoyed her sports thoroughly. Everything was going smooth in her life and she was her chirpy self. But life had other plans for her!

One day when she came back from school, her parents were making travel plans for London, England - UK. Her father had got a great job opportunity and they were going to move from Moscow. Going to a new country sounded exciting as she would be able to see new places, visit museums, go shopping in wonderful malls. However, the place she called home was soon to be a thing of past and she wasn't sure how to take it. Nevertheless, she went with the planning, helped her parents pack and arrange everything and very soon they were on the flight to London. All her fears as well as joys kept dancing in front of her eyes as the plane landed on the Heathrow Airport runway. 

The family quickly settled in their new apartment.  They had just finished setting up the study table when they realized they didn't get any school books. Natalia's mom gently coaxed her saying it was ok if she didn't have any school books. Any how she would be going to a new school where she would be getting everything new. The thought of shiny n neatly covered new books got her excited to go to her school the next day. 

Natalia's father took her to the new school. They took a short tour of the school with the Unit Head of Natalia's section. They were unable to check out classes as she was joining mid-year. When Natalia was crossing the lobby with the unit head and her father she noticed that every body was speaking very quickly and in a language she didn't quite understand. Now English language was not an alien language for her. Even though, the commonly used language in Moscow was Russian, she had attended a class or 2 of English too. However, the children around her sounded as if talking in something other than English. It made her wonder how would she ever understand anything there??!!! 

When they reached her class, the teacher Ms. Jones kindly welcomed her and introduced her to the class. "Oh! Thank God ..Ms. Jones is talking in English!"

Natalia thought. During the school day she realized all the kids were using English language itself but they had a very different way of speaking than her friends and teachers back in Moscow. At that time she didn't know it was just the accent. She somehow finished the school day and went back home with her Mom who had come to pick her up. When at the dinner table they all talked about their days - Natalia seemed the least bit excited to share. She had liked her school and also her teacher Ms. Jones. However, making friends or having lunch with anyone was a different story. Her excitement of coming to London was slowly fading.

Natalia was a brave and determined child. In spite of the fact, that she was having difficulty in communicating in the spoken language she didn't throw any tantrums of not going to school or make any excuses of not finishing assignments.  She tried her best and was ready for feedback from her teachers. She slowly tried to make progress, but found it very difficult to focus on any subject properly as all the textbooks, notes, slideshows and even verbal communication was done in a language she didn't use much back in Moscow. Life was becoming difficult for her. She tried hard but was not able to get good grades in her classes. Her basket ball games also weren't going good as she wasn't able to follow what her team mates quickly shouted while playing the game. When at home she used to try watching some TV to take her mind off the hard stuff, she could access many programs but all in the same language and same accent. 

One day, she was so annoyed she threw her books, the remote control as well as her iPad on the bed and started crying. She missed home. She missed her old school... old friends and the comfort of the language she understood very clearly. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to feel this way. She didn't want any of this. Her mum saw her crying in her room alone. She came in her room and started talking to her. Natalia was so frustrated with everything she kept on complaining about how hard her life had become after they moved. The biggest complaint was unable to grasp the local language. She was so tired of getting into the bottom scores she had started giving up. 

After listening & consoling Natalia for a long time, her mum gave her a tight hug and told her something that stayed with Natalia for a very long time. She said "It is very easy to give up, especially on new things. However, keeping up the struggle makes us stronger and also ready to face more challenging situations in our life! So Never Give UP!. I know You Can DO IT!" Natalia understood it but somehow wasn't convinced. After much reluctance she went to sleep as she had to go to school the next day. 

Next day her mum came to drop her to school. She spoke briefly to the class teacher and helped her understand the issues Natalia was facing. Ms. Jones was not just understanding but felt awful that they didn't understand her problem sooner. She promised she will help Natalia. However, all this didn't convince Natalia at all. She kept on avoiding conversations, answering questions even if she knew the answer, and participating in activities. She stopped doing her HW. She started avoiding everything and everybody. Only thing that came out of her mouth was "I hate this!!! I am not good at this. I cannot do it."

But her parents and teachers were tough. They wouldn't let her give up on herself. The more Natalia told herself, "It is hard" the more assignments and practice worksheets she got. They all kept telling her "Giving Up is not an option!" Her parents even started helping her with studies. It used to take hours for her to answer simple Science questions because she tried to translate everything from her native language to English. But everyone made sure, she finished. She attempted. She learnt from her mistakes. She revised and practiced. 

Over time, she realized her teachers are asking her to solve more n more English worksheets as compared to other kids. She sometimes also got similar worksheets as her siblings. It took time for her to solve them, and get to a level where all answers were correct....but ultimately she did. In a few weeks' time, she was not only able to answer written worksheets but also answer the same questions verbally and more confidently. Yes it was very hard at first to speak with correct pronunciation. But 4 words that kept ringing in her ears were "You Can Do IT!" 

From the negative sentences - 

"I hate English." 

"I hate studies."

"I hate HW."

"I hate practice." 

Natalia turned her tables around to the sentences - 

"I can read/speak/write English." 

"I like studies." 

"HW helps me understand my concepts." 

"Practice helps me remember concepts." 

At the end of the term, Natalia's class had to give a presentation. At first, she tried taking her name off the presentation. But Ms. Jones wouldn't listen to it. She made her participate and her hard work began multi-fold. She along with her class mates worked really hard on the presentation. After all, it was Term End and all parents would be attending the same. They had to produce good quality work. With lot of hesitation and coaxing Natalia prepared for her part of the speech. She practiced day and night not just her lines but also the possible questions and answers that could come up after the presentation. On the final day, her palms were sweaty and knees shaking because of the nervousness. But her parents stood strong as her support. Their eyes told her from a distance, "You Can Do IT!" She let go off all her fears and dived right into the presentation with her classmates. She not only spoke her lines confidently but also tried to answer questions like a native English speaker. She spoke so well, she couldn't believe her own ears. And then the audience reacted. They rose from their seats and applauded the class presentation with thunderous clapping. It was huge. A huge achievement for the class, Ms. Jones and above all for Natalia!

For the girl, who couldn't speak proper English and form sentences to communicate to her teacher, this was a BIG achievement. She not only did it but also excelled in it. She went home jubilant with her parents. On the way back, when her father played a Russian song in the car - all she could think of was how will it be written, spoken and sung in English. The day she accepted the language, the language embraced her with open arms.