ABSTRACT
This study deals with personal experiences of a young female Brazilian immigrant learning English as a second language in London. Data were generated through narrative inquiry procedures, aimed at registering personal stories of the participant’s recollection of events. The results showed that learning English as a second language was a painful experience, especially at school, where the participant felt different for being an immigrant and not speaking the language which created a barrier to interact with other students. Also according to her, it appeared to be a reason to be bullied by her classmates. Despite such struggle, she was able to learn, acknowledging the support from her parents and daily interactions with people, rather than learning experiences in formal schooling.
Keywords:
Immigrant student; English as a second language; bullying