It's a bit hard to hide that you're learning English by yourself when you are only 8 years old.

To this day I'm not sure why I did not ask my parents if I could take English classes back in my hometown in Switzerland. Back then, my parents knew only a handful of English words, and though they knew it was the universal language, it took them two more years to take the language seriously.

Even now my parents talk to me in full German. My father is a native from Berlin, and so his whole life he only knew German. He met my mother, a full-blooded Swiss, when he moved to Switzerland for work. My mother's first language was French, and whenever she was frustrated and forgot herself she would mix German and French in a way that still amazes me.

I was not exposed to English in my early years. My first exposure to English is a moment I may never forget.

After my diagnosis I stayed in the hospital for almost a month. During that time, I ran out of books to read. While my mother was away buying food one day, I saw the English magazines near the bed in a basket. If I remember correctly, they were just magazines for ads of all kinds. The information overload and the foreign words overwhelmed me and made me dizzy for a while.

But after that, I was hooked.

That year was my last year in a regular class. After leaving, I spent three months at home while my parents tried looking for other education options for me. And in those three months, I spent each day immersing myself in the English language.

It was not easy, as learning a new language always is. I had to learn every single word by heart, and often matching words was like a memory game that would not end. But after five years of studying, I was reading full English books (and making book reports for myself) and listening to English music. The move to Toronto also helped a lot.

Another moment that remains with me is the first thing I did after learning how to read English words: I made berry pancakes.

I was home alone, and had just completely understood a whole cookbook sample in full English. Ecstatic of my new skill, I searched online for a random recipe, and landed with berry pancakes.

At that time all I knew how to cook was scrambled eggs. It took a few hours just to get the right pancake mix, and I still did not know if it would taste good.

And guess what? It is now my favorite breakfast meal!

The whole point of this post is not to brag about me learning English. It's about how patience and dedication really does bear fruit. Truly, the trick is to find a way to make it easier for you. It doesn't matter if it is learning a language or learning anything school related. Mnemonics, acronyms, and even making word songs to memorize is a big help.

– Luka, 14

Uploaded: January 12, 2016