Marisol Valdez can read English and write English, but she still can’t speak it. She has trouble with pronunciation. The mother of two came from Mexico City 15 years ago and lived in Grand Rapids until a year ago, when she moved to Holland.

She’s taking English as a second language classes to help her overcome the language obstacles she faces at her job, her children’s school and even at the grocery store. States are slashing budgets for adult literacy classes — an important lifeline in immigrant communities. Local agencies providing adult language classes say they feel the economic pinch but are still functioning and plan to offer classes in the summer and fall. Many groups are compensating during these tough economic times. (more…)

Children from ethnic minority backgrounds are overcoming cultural and language barriers to achieve outstanding results, figures showed today. Forty per cent of London’s 81,000 primary school pupils who took Sats last year did not speak English as their first language.

Yet the vast majority went on to pass their tests in English, with girls in this group achieving better results than the average for all pupils in the capital. Children from Chinese and Indian backgrounds in particular achieved a high proportion of top grades, while headteachers paid tribute to the work ethic of many families recently arrived from eastern Europe. At Nelson Primary School in East Ham, pupils speak 53 different languages. For three-quarters of children at the school, their first language is not English. (more…)

Next casualty of the budget ax – English-language classes.

More than 100 immigrants and community leaders rallied in Jackson Heights Wednesday to protest proposed budget cuts to adult education and English as a Second Language classes.

The demonstrators urged the state to restore more than $2 million in funding for the programs before the new budget is adopted in the upcoming weeks.

“We’re concerned that these cuts are going to affect adult learners who are working to improve the quality of their lives,” said K.C. Williams, director of adult education at the nonprofit group Queens Community House. (more…)

As schools around the state struggle with budget cuts, hundreds of students at one of our local schools are struggling with English.

More than 90 percent of the students in Mecca speak English as a second language. This can make learning and passing tests difficult, but some local retirees are breaking down the language barriers, making learning easier.

“We are retired and when you have a lot of time, the best thing you can do with it is give it back,” says volunteer Harry Koustik.

For the past five years, Monday through Friday, about 30 volunteers ride a bus from Palm Desert to Mecca Elementary School. They spend the morning encouraging and helping students with reading. This is part of the Read With Me program. (more…)

Some programs that teach English to Spanish-speakers are thriving in Nevada County, while others are just slowly catching on, according to those involved.

Those in the business are pondering ways to reach Spanish-speaking families who have not taken advantage of the services, which are available to people of all ages. Others note that native English speakers are enrolling in the programs to learn Spanish.
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The state is forcing the schools to cut back on what they spend – even telling them to give some money back. But there is one program in the states education budget that has not had to face deep cuts. It’s the” English as a Second Language” program.

And last year, you spend 71 million of your federal and state tax dollars to run the program in North Carolina. There are those who say the program itself violates your rights as a taxpayer. So why does it exist? Two reasons really; Growth and a 27 year old ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. (more…)

DeKalb Technical College runs the largest adult English as a Second Language program in the state, enrolling about 2,000 students at any one time at seven campuses, said Diane Hunter, lead ESL teacher for the Clarkston daytime program. The college’s program at Clarkston International Bible Church, behind City Hall, has about 500 students. As many as 70 percent are refugees, most living in the Clarkston area. It’s a jumble of people from war-torn countries: Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and Vietnam. New waves of students hail from Myanmar and Burundi. (more…)

search for : DeKalb Technical College, English as a Second Language

Volunteers hope to shrink the language barrier gap. The Horry County Literacy Council offered volunteer tutor training Saturday to train people to help those hoping to learn English as a second language.

The tutors will help people learn to read, write and speak English. The only qualifications to be a volunteer are a love of reading and the ability to give a few hours a week.

If you’d like to get involved, call the Horry County Literacy Council at 843-839-1695. (more…)