Welcome to Part 4 of ELSA Speak’s Interview series! Today we interviewed Aman Agarwal. Aman grew up in Jaipur, India, and made his way over to California to study at Stanford University this past year. Aman took huge steps to perfect his English — check out his story here.

• Where are you from, where have you lived, etc.
  • Answer: My name is Aman Agarwal and I am from Jaipur, India. I had lived in America for the last year to do my studies at Stanford University.

• In a few words, describe how being an English Language Learner has affected your living on a daily basis.
  • Answer: Not being very good at English affected me because all of the other students around me were more than proficient at the language. It made me feel very behind compared to everyone else.
• Tell us about one time when not being confident and great at speaking English severely affected you
  • Answer: One time, my group of friends and me were gathered together at someone’s house. We were talking about our past boyfriend and girlfriend and I referred to my current relationship as “relationshit.” Everyone started to worry about me even though I was very happy with where I was.”
• What have you done to improve your English speaking skill and gain your confidence? Have you succeeded?
  • Answer: I started doing some English classes online, just some free ones which I found — they helped a lot. Also, just talking to new people and making new friends helped my English a lot as well.
• Do you think you’d be more successful if you were better at English? If so, then how?
  • Answer: I think I would be a lot more successful – studying at Stanford was very tough for me because everyone around was very smart, and I wasn’t as competent as them because of my English. If I spoke better, I’d be more successful.
• Do you have any advice for other English Language Learners?
  • Answer: Do not be afraid to go out and ask for help. Asking for help is not a bad thing, and you should not be scared. Everyone will try to help you, not the opposite. Good luck to your English learning journey!

Aman worked extremely hard this past year to perfect his English. Being at one of the best schools in the world and having that disadvantage was tough for him; however, he made the best of it and now has lots of stories to tell. Tune in next week for our next #ELSAStory!