An English-language instruction program that caters mainly to Hispanic immigrants has moved to a roomier facility that organizers say will enable the program’s growth. One to One Learning, which offers free basic English and pre-General Educational Development instruction to mostly Hispanic immigrant adults, is now housed at the Marydell Faith and Life Center, a scenic campus at the base of Hook Mountain.

The program was founded in 1997 by Sister Cecilia La Pietra and fellow nuns from the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill. It had been housed at St. John’s Church in Piermont. Sister La Pietra, the executive director of One to One, described the opportunity to move to Marydell as a miracle. (more…)

The number of students for whom English is not their primary language has grown steadily in recent years in the Chambersburg Area School District, to the point where one in every six kindergarten students this year qualifies as an English language learner.

There are more than 450 students out of a population of more than 8,500 requiring some level of English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction in the district, said Sylvia Rockwood, the district’s director of information services. That includes about 100 of the approximately 600 children entering kindergarten, she said.

The number of ESL students was 283 in 2003-04 and 366 in 2007-08, according to district figures. The influx of new ESL students prompted the district to add two more ESL teaching positions – one elementary and one secondary – earlier this month, bringing the number of teachers to 15, said Sarah Herbert, the district’s ESL supervisor. (more…)

As school districts in Lamar and Forrest counties see a growing Spanish-speaking student population, officials are challenged with helping those students pass more rigorous state tests administered in English. Peggy Williams, assistant superintendent for Lamar County schools, oversees the district’s English as a Second Language Program – a federal program teaching students who are called English language learners, meaning they predominantly speak another language.

The number of students in the district’s program has more than quadrupled since 2003, increasing from 41 to 200 students over five years. “We see our ELL population growing each year and now in other areas outside Oak Grove,” said Williams, who attributes the growth to booming economic development. Williams said the district’s ESL program has students who speak Vietnamese, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian and many other languages. (more…)

Many language offerings in Rochester focus on younger children, in part because instructors believe it’s a good time to instill the sounds, structure and practice of using a new language.

“A kid’s brain is like a sponge the first five years of life. The more things they are exposed to, the more they are able to learn,” said Spanish instructor Debora Elizabeth Ramirez Higuera. “So we have to take (advantage) of that to teach them as many of the good things we can. If they learn two or three languages at the same time they can go back and forth in each language without any problem. I can tell this because my kids are bilingual.” (more…)

Demand is growing in schools overseas for people to teach conversational American to foreign students of all ages. Candidates don’t have to be teachers by profession — although it helps to have a college degree and some training in Teaching English as a Second Language, or TESL. Rather, the ideal instructor is adventurous, adaptable and interested in exotic climes — mainly in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America.

Jobs can be as short as a summer session or as long as a school year. The work itself can be challenging. Classroom discipline and student attitudes vary widely. Some teachers have arrived at their destination only to find that employment promises were misleading. Accommodations and amenities, of course, are often vastly different from home. (more…)

For many foreign-born Vineyarders, integrating successfully into this community means hours, days, and nights studying and practicing the language. It is seven o’clock on a Monday, a time when most Vineyarders are settling in for the night. Few drivers are out and the lights in the houses that line the roads are on. Parents have returned from work, children from school, and together they gather around the table for dinner.

Taking English classes has made a big difference for Vinicius Nasciento. For a small group of Island residents, however, the evening is just beginning. A handful of cars fills a side parking lot at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. The school hallways, abandoned hours before by teenagers, are filled with adults laughing and catching up. (more…)

Anyone who moves to a new place must undergo an adjustment period while adapting to the new environment, but that phase is oftentimes longer and more strenuous for those arriving from other countries. In many cases, these new residents speak little to no English, which means a simple task such as going to school can become a burden to students. While adjusting to a new culture these students are sometimes faced with ridicule and hostility from natural born citizens.

These students can find a safe haven within the Lenoir County Public Schools’ English as a Second Language classes. “This is a little paradise for them,” said Corichi Jimenez, who teaches ESL classes for the county’s middle and high school students at Kinston High School. “It’s okay to use their native language and be with people who are like them.” (more…)

Parents who want to learn English and teach their young children English as a second language have a new network to turn to for support, advice and free lessons.

The Family Literacy Pro­gram at Colorado Mountain Col­lege’s Alpine Campus, in cooperation with local agencies, is putting the tools for bilingual education into the hands of local parents via weekly English classes and family networking. (more…)