Ep. 3 - Jussineia: Stand Up And Learn

Jusinea Silva, a Brazilian English learner, moved to New York City in 2022 to improve her English skills. She discusses her experiences living in New York and how it has accelerated her learning. She emphasizes the importance of immersing oneself in the language and culture to improve pronunciation and fluency. Jusinea attends a school that offers hybrid classes, combining online and in-person learning. She enjoys the flexibility of online classes and the opportunity to connect with classmates during in-person sessions. Jusinea also emphasizes the significance of having fun while learning a language and recommends stepping out of one's comfort zone to make new connections. She shares how she has met people from different countries and engages in activities such as stand-up comedy to practice English and build self-confidence. Jusinea emphasizes the importance of putting oneself out there and pursuing one's goals while living abroad. She admits missing her family but stays connected thr We can have fun. The best way to learn a language is having fun. This is Raquel Neres and you're listening to English Learners in New York City. In this episode, we have the story of Jusinea Silva, an ex-customer experience manager from Sao Paulo that came to New York in 2022 to improve her English skills. In this episode, she explains how her ESL program incorporates hybrid classes and how her experiences living in New York accelerate learning. Let's listen to Jusinea's story. As you said, I'm Jusinea. I'm 36 years old and I'm from Brazil. In Brazil, I used to work as a customer experience manager in a tech company for, like, my last company, I was working there for eight years. Well, I've been trying learning English for a while. If you say all the time, like, when we start, we stop and we start again, I would say 10 years. But when you see the time that I really study English, now it's almost two years. So that's the real time, like, really studying for real. And I try to study in Brazil and you do can learn in Brazil. You can learn in the grammar, you can learn a lot. But when it comes to pronounce it better, what I do work on this, as you can see there, I feel like being here, being in the environment, having American friends, and stay immersive in the culture, in the country, that for sure helps you a lot to learn English faster and better. So that's why I decided to come to U.S. to study English here. And I found this good school that I'm studying now for a year. And of course, as many people who come here, you kind of fall in love for the country, for the culture, for all the liberty that you have here. So that's my point now. I really fall in love with this country. Why did you decide to come to New York? Well, that's a funny story. Actually, New York, it wasn't my first choice. I'm totally a countryside person. I really like the mountains. So my first thought actually was go to Denver, Colorado. And then my friends, I have two friends, and they were just say, we want to go with you to U.S. to study English as well, but we want to go to New York. I was, well, if we go in three and you can share the rent, all the views that we have here, that's amazing. Then I was, okay, let's look about New York City. And I started to look about New York City. I'm from Sao Paulo in Brazil. So I felt like, wow, it's kind of similar. Maybe it'll be easier for me to adapt it because it's close the way the city is. You have the big city, you have parks. So it's pretty similar. And then at the final, they are not here. I came by myself. They changed. They went to Canada. It probably wasn't easy for Juicy to have her friends changing plans at the last minute. However, as she had good humor and flexibility, she was able to overcome this unexpected situation. I've been living by myself in Brazil for a while. So I have my own apartment. I used to live in a great neighborhood. So I had a level of life that here in New York City, I cannot afford it because my money comes from Brazil to here. So you have to change for, it's $1. You have to pay five real. My decision was I cannot rent an apartment by myself here. It's impossible. So I rent a room here. I'd say that the final was good. I learned a lot how to live with other people. And you have to share the space. You have to share so many. But the person that I live with, it's an amazing person. So I ended up in the best place I could choose here in New York City. Yeah, she's really amazing. She makes me feel like we kind of have a bond, that we are family now. I'd say that I'm lucky, actually, to find her. Juicy was lucky to find not only a person to help her pay the rent, but a real friend. She also valued her sharing experience as another positive outcome. There's a rule that says that people who are living here for more than seven years, they are New Yorker, right? So she's living here now for 22 years, but she's from Ukraine. She's really, really nice person. But we also have the different cultures, because she's from Ukraine. I'm from Brazil. But the good part is that we can share our culture. We can mix and create new culture for our environment here inside our house. I'd say that that's a good experience for people to get off to the common box that we always live in. So I've been living by myself in the way that I always like to live. And I have to change and create a new environment. And I feel like that is so rich. You learn a lot. So it's really nice. Later in our conversation, Juicy talked about her experience attending classes. Just as a curiosity, Juicy studies in the same school that I attended from January 2020 to April 2021. The difference is that I studied right before and during the COVID-19 lockdown, whereas Juicy started her course after that. It was interesting for me to discover how the school evolved its services by offering hybrid classes. The classes are still online. On Fridays, I have the in-person class, which is really nice. So the whole week, I can do like from Monday to Thursday, I can have online class. And then on Fridays, I go in person to class. So I can meet my classmates. We can go for a lunch together. It's a time that you can really share. I have to say that I'm really impressed. In the first week, I was really impressed that how they can do the online class. It's a human class, you know? You feel connected to anyone because the teachers, they are so well prepared to put people to talk. Sometimes they divide us into small groups so we can really talk to each other. We can explain some stuff in English. So I really don't feel like a huge difference between the online class and the in-person class in the aspect of the knowledge. The only difference is that if you are in person class, after class, you can go to someone. Sometimes you go to grab a beer. Like 2 p.m., we go have lunch, grab a beer together. And you can talk something that is about personal life if you want to share something. How to turn online classes human? During the lockdown in 2020, that was the million-dollar question. Learning how to engage students was very difficult, especially in ESL programs, in which some people have more interest in maintaining status than learning English. The good part of this is that schools learned how to use technology to increase courses' flexibility. Being in person became a more meaningful experience in which students would do what cannot be done online, explore the city with friends. Every week, they do some extra activities like go to museums, go to some specific parties. I think two weeks ago, we went together to watch the matching soccer game was New York City and Miami. And it was amazing. And guess what we saw there? David Beckham. When you do those extra activities, we put ourselves in different contexts so you can talk about different topics. We can share opinions. We can have fun. The best way to learn a language is having fun. I was happy to know that having a good time with colleagues was helping Juicy improve her English skills. It was also a result of her efforts to connect with international people. As with them, she can only speak in English. I try to avoid the Brazilian community because I feel if I go outside with a Brazilian, we're going to speak in Portuguese. And the point that I'm here and I spent so much money is because I need to learn English. I need to improve my communication. And I know I have a huge way to walk through this. I try to bond with people from other countries. And also, I'm not saying that it cannot be Latin people. Of course, I can stay with Colombia. Actually, I have two friends from Colombia. They are kind of my best friends now. But we speak in English. So you have to pull yourself there to try hard to communicate. And it's really nice to meet people from all over the world. So I feel it's a huge and amazing experience when we study in a school that everyone there, they are from different countries. And again, you can share. We can learn more about life and the difference and about respect. So I'm really happy for doing this now. In addition to the leisure moments Juicy was having with her schoolmates, other activities collaborated with her learning in promoting self-confidence. I really love also stand-up comedy. So I usually go to places that they have the open minds, the artists, they go to test their jokes. So you talk to them. And then I make some friends from that environment. Yeah, I think it was like five months ago, I was like, I wish I could do this one day. And then I decided to do it, the open mind in English. I prepared all my jokes. And I went to the place and I was, guys, today I want to do this. And then I did my stand-up comedy there. It was five minutes, but it was amazing. Everybody was so impressed with that. How could you do this? Because I was telling them like, I don't know how to speak English so well, but I really want to try it. And then after that was funny and everybody was laughing about my jokes. When you go to another country to learn English, you have to put yourself there. You have to try. So I've been trying to do and get out of my comfort zone every time. If I have a chance, I try to do something. Put yourself there is key to learning a new language. But you don't have to be in a state to do that. Simple things like interacting with the people in your neighborhood can also help a lot. There's something about the community here that I feel like everybody, they try to be friends. So if you go to the grocery store and you are buying something and then we're looking at some products, someone will approach and, oh, have you tried this before? Is that good? So you start talking with people that you don't know that it's really good. Because I was one day at the grocery store and there was someone there and also I saw this person looking to a product and it was something that I wouldn't buy because you have to always make this rate about a dollar in real. You buy when you really need something. And then I asked, like, how is this product? Is it really good? Should I try? Oh, yeah, it's amazing. I buy every week because it's really good. And then I started to try the product and then we exchanged cell phone numbers and then we ended up the other week getting lunch together. So it was a woman, super nice person. To my surprise, Juicy was also keen on social media to start new connections. I found on Instagram, there's a lot of, my favorite one is actually the Upper East Side group because it's only for women. So you feel kind of safe to share some information and you can go out with the girls. But on Instagram, you always can find a group. You put it in neighborhoods and you're going to find some person that is sharing tips about the neighborhood. And then they created a group so everybody can share something and then make some deals like, let's grab coffee, let's grab a beer together. And then we ended up with people. At this point, it seemed to me that Juicy was well-adapted to the city and wasn't missing her family, or at least not as most people that moved to another country alone. But I was wrong. Yeah, I'm a family person. So I've been trying to live abroad for a while since I was like 20 years old. And I always put my family first, especially because I have a small family. My family is my mom, my brother, my sister-in-law. They are my family. When I try to live far, so far from them, it's not like you take a car and get there and it's okay. It was a really hard decision. But on the other hand, you have to think about your future as well. So I know I love my family. I really miss them. But I also need to think about my life and my future if I'm going to have kids, what future I need for them. So there's a way. Nowadays, we have technology in our hands, so I can talk to them almost every day. We FaceTime, so we can see each other. We can express our emotions. And I hope soon I can go back and visit them and stay there for, I don't know, 20 days, a month, and then come back again. But it's not easy. When it's like, if you keep your days, think about your family. I feel like you want to pack and buy America. I'm going back to Brazil. But you have to think, why did you decide to come to America? There's a reason. That reason is worth it. If it is, you have to pursue that. And then you have to manage how you meet your family and how you connect to them using technology. Yes, absolutely. You are now, like you mentioned, that you are from Sao Paulo, capital, right? Sao Paulo, the city. And you also, like you were working there. Are you still working for Brazil, like remotely? Yeah, I did this. So I arrived here on March 2022. And I was working for the company until July, last year. So since July to now, I'm not working. I'm just studying. At the time, we were in two hours, different from Brazil. And then I have to stop working. And then the same minutes going to online class. So it was kind of crazy, but manageable. You can do it. It's for a while. But in the final, I decided to not work anymore because I've been there for 80 years. And you get to a point that it's an amazing company. But I got to a point that maybe I wasn't learning anymore. And I wasn't helping them that much anymore. So it was, I think, a smart decision. And then I talked to the owner of the company because I was there for 80 years. So we had this open communication. And I told him my situation, that I want to be here. And I want to explore more the city. Because imagine that I was here working the whole day, studying the night. I had no time to go outside, to explore the city. So again, what is the point to be here and not be able to do those stuff? And that's why I decided to give up my job. And now I'm just studying English and looking for jobs. I'm applying for jobs here. I have been doing some interviews. But there's the question of the visa. So it's not easy to find a company that will sponsor you. But I'm still trying. As Juicy said, it is not easy to find a company to sponsor your visa. However, Juicy discovered that she could try a different strategy. Because of my experience, I have 10 years of experience. I have a degree, post-degree. Now I speak three languages. I have some hours that I received along my career. I'm applying for this visa that is for this kind of professional. And it is like you have to get a lot of documents, right? Yeah. That's the point. Because I'm working this document now for a month. And I feel like I'm going to work another one. And then when I finish the lawyer, we need another two months to create the whole package, putting this together. And it's great in the story that we convinced them that I'm really good and the country needs me. You have to collect all your diplomas. It doesn't matter if it's the bigger one. I mean, if it's the college and the post-degree or if it's about the small courses that you have taken in your life, you put it all together. You need the recommendation letters. I'm doing five recommendation letters. That's a lot of documents that you have to put it together. It's not easy. And also, it's not a cheap process. Juicy's initial plan was not to stay for more than one year in New York, but she changed her mind. But I ended up that I found love with the U.S. and I say why. It's because I think liberty is a good word because it's our freedom, maybe. Because it's a freedom to see new opportunities. You have a huge opportunity here. It's a freedom to watch whatever you do, what time, what place. You can go. You feel free and you feel safe. There's so many freedom ways that you can live your life here. Even the clothes that you are wearing, no one cares about. So you can go in pajamas in the subway. No one is looking at you like, oh, look at her, what she's wearing here. I feel like New York City is so democratic in their way. It's easy to go anywhere here because you have subways. The streets are easy to walk on it. So it's a city full of opportunities, full of people from all over the world. So you cannot feel like they don't accept you because you are not American, because you don't have accent and I know I have it. But you feel welcome here because they are used to have people from all over the world here. In the end, Juicy shared her recommendations. I say, and I did do this, so I say better do, it's prepare. In a way, don't come here like, oh, there, I'm going to see what I'm going to do, I'm going to work. It doesn't work like this. So make a plan in a way, have money to live six months if you don't have a job, if you don't have any other money coming besides the one you have in your account. Prepare in a way that you have at least six months, but better if you have one year without a job. Have clear, why do you want to come to US? Because when you get here and you don't see your family and you don't see your house, you don't see your space, you don't recognize yourself sometimes because you are living with other people that is not your family and you have to change. Sometimes you have to keep yourself a little smaller to adapt to the environment, to be part of, or sometimes you have to go bigger than you are to feel part of. So it's really challenging. But if you have clear the reasons that why you are here, that will help you to face all the problems that you have here, all the nights that sometimes you go to bed and you cry because you feel like, what am I doing to my life? I have a job in Brazil, I have a career in Brazil. In my case, I'm 36 years old. I don't have that time to just spend without nothing. You have to have goals in your life. So if you want to come to America, have those in mind. What are your goals from here? What do you want after that? And have the money. Because if you have the financial and the emotional prepared to this, you go. You can do your best and you can face all the problems and you can go through and you have your American dream. This was the story of Jusinea Silva, a Brazilian English learner from Sao Paulo that came to New York only to learn English and ended up changing her plans as she fell in love with the city. She shared how her school successfully combines online and in-person classes and how putting yourself out there to make connections can help leverage learning. If you are an international English student in New York City or have had this experience in the past, share your story with us. We want to give you voice. See you in the next episode of English Learners in New York City.