As I entered my English Speaking class on Kings Highway in Brooklyn with eight Russian émigrés, I sensed a feeling of unease.

I have been teaching these new Americans for over three years, so I knew something was amiss. I had prepared a lesson on idiomatic English, but I scrapped it immediately. A lesson saved for another day!

Instead, on the blackboard in large capital letters, I wrote the word "PROBLEMS." The group was surprised. I asked them to think carefully and tell us of their difficulties in this new land, America.

A Russian physician was first. She stated "American talk too fast. I cannot catch up with them." I replied sadly "You are living in New York, the world's largest city. Nobody is going to slow down for you. The longer you live here, the more you will begin to understand. Soon you will adjust to the rate of people's speech."

The second student was unusually down. She always was the most cheerful of the group. Her problem, "I cannot speak clearly and with ease on the telephone." She, too, was a pediatric physician in Russia and she applied for a job at a clinic in Queens. She passed the first portion of the interview in person, but the head doctor gave her the final portion of the interview over the telephone. She was disconsolate because she was not hired.

"Speaking on the phone is a unique and special art," I said. "Speak to your children or another native American and improve yourself. Also, call the same doctor and set up an appointment to meet him in person. He will soon observe what a worthwhile asset you will be to his clinic."

The third student's problem was his health. He had undergone a triple heart bypass and was feeling "not so hot" at times. I looked at the class and I noted that everybody was over 50. "We are all in the same boat," I retorted. "Health is an issue that is yours and your doctor's."

The fourth student complained about her memory. She can't find the proper words at the proper time. After an English conversation is over, she realizes what she should have said." "It will come in due time. What English did you know when you arrived in the USA?" I asked. She stated, "'My name is Natasha!' was my only English sentence." I blurted out, "Look how far you have come in the five years you are here in New York. You can go to a store, you can speak in sentences in class and you can make yourself understood on King's Highway. To me that is definite progress. Be patient! It will all come in due time."

The fifth student stated loudly and strongly, " I don't have enough money." The entire class sang out loudly, "Neither do we!" "No one in America has enough money," I confided to the group. "When David Rockefeller was asked how much is enough money, he answered with one word, 'More'!"

The hour-and-a-half was over and the word PROBLEMS remained on the blackboard. I felt every person had gotten something off their chest. The atmosphere in the room was now lighter and more relaxed.

Verbalizing one's difficulties is a form of relieving them.