Interview questions with Gladys and snippets of dialogue.

The following are the questions and various excerpts from an interview done with my mother Gladys Kudic. Although I ended up not using her narrative as a source for a paper, it was a beneficial experience where I learned a few things about her. I'm glad she was able to open up and give me the time to talk about her writing. It was probably a little difficult for her because of the nature of the topic: reading and writing. I don't think she ever really had a chance to talk about it, or if she did it was just superficially and never connecting anything deeper in her life.

Here were the questions:

1) What kind of writing did you do when you were young? (In Spanish)

2) Did you like writing as a child?

3) Were there many opportunities for you to write as a child?

4) What kind of writing do you do now?

5) When did you first start writing or reading something in English?

6) What was something lengthy that you read in English?

7) How did that feel?

a: Do you read magazines/novels in English?

b: Is there any kind of writing that you find interesting or pleasurable? 

8) Which language do you feel more comfortable reading&writing in?

9) Did you have writing instruction for your Associate’s Degree? What kind of writing was it?

10) Did you do any kind of writing/reading at work?

11) Did you have any fears/anxieties related to reading/writing in English? At work? in another setting?

12) Is reading/ writing important to you? Why? 

Some notable excerpts on learning English

“I started at the library. Most of the libraries in New York were offering English classes. They started from 6-7 or 6-8. There was a library on 8th avenue where I used to work. I started in that library. Then when I moved to the Upper West Side in Manhattan, 125th street. There was another library there and I was taking classes. [Back] Then the classes that they were giving there were for grammar—There was not a lot of conversation, and not much writing. For me it was, “That’s it for me here.” I have to go someplace else where they can teach me more.”

“After seven years, I found through some friends that Colombia University had a school that were giving free classes too. They had classes from Beginner to Intermediate to Advanced. That was much better for me. This started at 6:00, and it was from 6:00 to 9:00. Those were good, good classes. I always appreciate all those guys. They did a lot of writing and a lot of conversation—reading. They really were strict and were pushing you to do your best. They give you exams, and it was for the teacher’s grade. If everybody passed, then it looks like the teacher did a good job too. That’s why these teachers did the best and really pushed the students to learn.”