By: Karla Barrera

In a city as diverse as Fullerton, accents mix in the air like background music. In classrooms, students switch between languages mid-sentence, searching for the right words to fit a new rhythm of life. For many international students at Cal State Fullerton, every conversation, every class discussion and every casual “How are you?” becomes part of learning to belong in a new language.
Adapting to life in another country isn’t just about unpacking in a dorm room, it’s about translating yourself. Students from across the globe arrive with their own ways of speaking, thinking and connecting, only to find that some words don’t exist in English. Some expressions get lost; others are reborn through creativity and courage.
Through conversations with three international students, this story explores what it means to find your voice in a new country, the cultural contrasts, the challenges of expression and the words that hold meaning no dictionary can capture.
Among the many exchange students who arrive at Cal State Fullerton each semester, each carries more than just a suitcase, they bring their own rhythms, expressions and ways of seeing the world. For some, English flows easily. For others, it’s something they’re still learning to live in, one conversation at a time.
From Japan, exchange student Natsuki Kondo quickly noticed how different everything felt, from the size of the campus to the way people spoke.
“At first it was so hard for me to speak English. My roommates, from England and France,” Kondo said. “I can listen to them and understand, but I can’t speak the same as my first language.”
Though she studied English in high school, she doesn’t take it in college anymore. Instead, her café job has become her classroom. Talking to tourists gives her a reason to practice, to test out words and phrases she once hesitated to use. In small moments, language turns into connection.
She shared one of her favorite Japanese expressions いただきます(Itadakimasu) “We say this word before we eat something,” she explained. It’s a phrase full of gratitude, one that doesn’t quite exist in English.
From Mexico, exchange student Santiago Chévez Trejo has his own version of that balancing act. Having learned English from a young age, he moves through most conversations with ease, though he still finds himself reaching for words.
“Sometimes I don’t remember a word or two and it’s like ‘give me a second, Google Translate: this word!’” he said with a laugh.
“In class some words have been a little bit more difficult because they are not daily life vocabulary, they are technical vocabulary,” Trejo said .
The challenge, he explained, isn’t always understanding, it’s expressing.
“Sometimes professors ask questions, and I’m like I know the answer but I don’t know how to say it, so I won’t raise my hand. I would have to look it up and by that time someone else already answered it.” He paused, then added with a small laugh, “I like to participate… it sometimes might be frustrating, but I mean it’s okay, I’m getting better.”
There’s one word, though, that Santiago always keeps, “provecho” (proh-VEH-cho). It’s what people in Mexico say before a meal, wishing others to enjoy their food. “I’m used to saying it when we’re eating,” he said.
Much like “itadakimasu,” it’s a small gesture that holds something deeper, a reflection of warmth and community.
Antoine Jorge, an exchange student from France, experiences English differently. His university back home already teaches in English, and some of his classmates are international. He estimated that a quarter of his class spoke English. That made the transition to CSUF smoother, though it still comes with its own kind of exhaustion.
“I’m used to doing a lot of projects back home so the only main difference is usually once we finish with the project we speak French between us, and over here we speak English,” Jorge said. “It does become quite tiring at the end of the day I think everyone who speaks a different language all day, you feel your brain starting to tire.”
Across languages and accents, these students share one thing in common, the courage to express themselves in new ways. Through laughter, hesitation, and words that don’t quite translate, they find belonging in the space between languages. Their voices remind us that learning English is only part of learning to live, and that sometimes, the most meaningful expressions can’t be translated at all.