While first-and second-class passengers enjoyed the passage across the Atlantic on the upper decks,conditions for the third class or " steerage " passengers in the stuffy lower decks were terrible. Some ship carried as 2,000 steerage passengers in crowded and dirty conditions. In the early days, the journey took six weeks, although that was cut to two weeks by the the mid-1950s. To pass the time, immigrants played cards, sang, danced and talked. Some even practiced answering the inspectors'questions, and spent hours learning the new language.