A Fish Walking On Land

The motivation of doing this project has derived from my language barrier since I relocated to New York city in 2013 for my masters degree. I faced this profound challenge, which is a universal problem that almost all international students would struggle with. As one of the East Asian international students who is still struggling and trying hard to adopt the language and culture, I tried to capture these experiences through a narrative short film to share my experience of studying aboard in this lonely city, dealing with the moments of doubting my self-identity, the feelings of alienation, depression and the encouragement I received from people I met.

This project is comprehended through my research, the experience of other international students, and the viewpoints of experts in the English Studies program in The New School. In order to draw the attention of native speakers toward understanding this socio- psychological anxiety that language learners have, I chose to express this voice through a narrative film. Additionally, I chose producing this project through filmmaking, which is my passion and my source of fear because it forces me to potential face my anxiety toward language barrier instead of escaping from it.

This is why this project is important to be expressed by me, as one of them. My decision to use filmmaking to finish this project demonstrates that other East Asian language learners who are facing the same situation can conquer this fear eventually if they don’t give up testing their limitations.