Hello Everyone!
PLEASE READ IT ALL 
IT IS NOT A JOKE.
I am at my second semester in College and as much as I can say…IT IS THE WORST PEDAGOGIC PERIOD FOR ME EVER!!! I Feel so dumb! and I don’t know what to do. Well, the thing is I am from the only Spanish-speaking African country, but went to a french High school and now I am going to college in the USA. I consider myself really good ant learning languages, indeed when I had to learn french it did not take me a month! and the best thing is I was the best student at my School! I am majoring in electrical engineering and after getting out of an english institution I got into a college and made very good grades on the test required for international students from non-English spleaking countries (Had a 5/5 on the Compass essay part!) everything was ok except I was placed in pre-calculus ( which made me very upset). Well, starting the first semester in mathematics (it was pre-cal!!! OMG) I was getting c’s!!! I could not beleave it! and it started like that until now. I got a all my four classes the first semester! now is the second semester and I am not still doing as well as I was used to! I KNOW I AM NOT AN AVERAGE STUDENT so I have to figure out what is wrong. In my chemistry class I missed a 10 points question guess what it was: “NAME THE FOLLOWING COMPOSANTS” all because in high school (french System) I learned to name the LAST composante BEFORE THE FIRST. Here is the inverse and my mind is still not used to it. sometimes on my essays I find myself writing a word or even a whole sentence whether in spanish or french or mixing all of the three languages that are in my head. I HAVE NEVER BEEN QUIET IN A CLASS BEFORE. I have always been a very active student! But since I started my semester I have not raised my hand even once! Do you guys know why? Not even because I don’t know (that is the Irony) “I ACTUALLE KNOW VERY WELL WHAT IS BEING ASKED BUT JUST…IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE” I feel so stupid! PLEASE HELP ME! (S.O.S) I really love engineering, I have always been the “STAR” of my classes! I have always been on the top! I am not used to this! pls HELP, WHAT CAN I DO? AND MY PARENTS KNOW MY USUAL PERFORMANCES SO THEY THINK I AM DOING OK. In Africa we do not know abaout A, B OR C’s You do not even need an “AVERAGE GPA” to get into a job lol, so this does not have anything to do with the fear of not getting a job or whatever. This is PERSONAL PRIDE. I feel like I am someone else, Thank you for those who will at least SAY SOMETHING. X_X
Have you tried your school’s tutoring center?
Tell your professors that English isn’t your primary or native language and that you might occasionally make mistakes both in written in spoken form. I think you will be surprised how gracious and understanding they will be, Go to your school’s writing center to get help/proofing with papers, and written homework assignments. etc. I know it’s intimidating, but make yourself speak in class. The more you do, the easier it will get. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Americans are used to accents – and rather enjoy them, in fact – and no one will hold any spoken mistakes you make against you. And don’t be so hard on yourself. The beginnings in college are hard for everyone; for those still mastering the language, doubly so.
College is hard. Go to the tutors.
Yes but just for Essay and english-related matters, I get bored when going to see them for chemistry or mathematics, I practically do everything bymiself and they tell me I am ok. the problem comes when I am taking the tests…
Yes, You are right. It might work. I will try it! Thank you guys so much! I apreciate! 
My problem is clrearly not the college system or anything of the sort, beleave me an African high school is harder than colleges here. ( I know what I am talking about) That is why makes me so mad. cause I can remember how good I was in that difficult system but not being abble to do as much as I want in a place where you take your trigonometry test with a trig formula sheets aside given by the professor and where almost all the test are multiple choice…with so many other advantages you guys have here… believe me, you do not want to be in a French system High school. hahaha. But anyway Thank you everyone!
Yup, college is not like a high school. You have to deal with it. You should study English more AND make sure that professors know you are not a native speaker. Dpn’t let your pride get in your way
The French system is different. Some parts are harder, other parts are easier.
The fact you’re struggling doesn’t reflect on the French system or your performance there, it only shows the cultural differences you have to get used to.
You have to go to the tutors, not to learn how to answer correctly, but to know what questions are asked and what answers are expected. You need to understand the culture behind the questions, not the process to get to the answer. Work with them, not to hear the right answer, but to see how they read the question - have them make their thought process explicit, in English. (Solve it in French or Spanish, explain in English how it’s different).
Math in another language is super hard, so it’s good you got placed in precalc - the reason is not math ability but, again, language, ways of doing things, ways of naming things. You need to learn those things - not the math process, but the linguistic part. It’s not a reflection of your academic skills but rather a way for you to master the language.
Go to office hours. Explain that you understand and can process things in French or Spanish, but have trouble with the process in English and often need to “translate” things. Ask professors whether they’d allow you to bring a dictionary and that, of course, the professor may check the dictionary if they wish.
Seek out a Spanish speaking tutor and try to establish a sort of “scientific dictionary”, where words like “even” appear in their math meaning (which is not the same as “even” like “even though”…) It seems this would be very useful to you… and potentially to many other students. You could even become a specialized bilingual tutor later on and “publish” this on your college’s website with official approval.
To ease things, take an advanced Spanish or French class, it’ll help you have a class where you dont struggle communicating.
MYOS1624 has given you really good advice. Here are a few more things to think about.
Yes, you did well on the English placement exam, but that is not the same as living and studying full-time in English. It can take a long time (as in years) to become fully fluent in Academic English. If your university has an ESL program, go visit with them, and find out if they have any advanced classes that you could take. They might have one just for scientific and technical English. If they don’t, you might want to look for a copy of “Cambridge English for Engineering”. It is written to CEF level B1-B2, so the grammar points should be easy for you, and you could just focus on the vocabulary.
Another thing that I want to encourage you to do, is to spend some time with the International Students Advisor at your university. That person has seen lots of students go through the experiences that you are having, and should be able to give you some advice about things. Their whole job is to help students like you.
Lastly, I recommend that you take a look at http://www.learnersdictionary.com/ This is the online dictionary that I recommend to my adult ESL students. I like that each definition of each word is used in a full sentence. You can use the free version, or pay something like $5 for an ap for your smartphone. There are a lot of different features to play with at the website. And, there also is a print version if you prefer that too.
Thamk you So much! I apreciate all of those advices! I promise to let you know how I will be going. 