English language classes: nights of laughter and learning
by Elaine Reimers, Adult Ministry Director
It was Latino ESL test day at Mission Adelante and many of the students had shown up somewhat nervous to put the English they had been learning for the past 11 weeks to the test. I was dropping by classrooms at the end of the night to see how the test had gone and as I approached the level 4 classroom I could hear the volunteers already discussing the night amongst themselves. The test was challenging for the students, they said. In fact, one of the students joked that the test ended up being a team effort since they were all getting help from each other to get through it! After wiping the sweat from their brows and turning their tests in to the teachers, the results were in! They found that one of the students did much better on the test than the other four people; however, after the students talked about it, all five students agreed they could use more instruction on the past tense and did not feel comfortable moving to level 5 just yet. They arrived at a consensus- WE STAY TOGETHER! Long story short - they moved backwards TOGETHER to the level 3 of a brand new curriculum we were rolling out that focuses on the past tense. It encourages me to see the bonds and friendships that are forming between students and volunteers and how they have been birthed through things like a generous volunteer’s will to make a difference in their lifetime, a shared interest and need to learn English, and many times through the breaking of bread.
But wait, I am just getting started! The story above is just one of many. I recall the first time I witnessed one of my beloved ESL volunteers “putting himself out there.” He had a student who was coming to class but was struggling to keep up with the lessons and whose work schedule started causing schedule conflicts. The volunteer reached out to me and was genuinely concerned and wanted to accommodate his student as much as he was able. He offered to meet him outside of class to practice English and they went out for burgers at one point as well. That brings me to my next similar one, but with a twist! A level 1 conversation partner volunteer meets his students outside of class to practice English and, since it’s forbidden to speak Spanish during class, to allow him to practice Spanish with them! There is always a tremendous amount of animated chatter happening at their end of the table, and sometimes they DO speak Spanish to clarify things (oopsies!).
And speaking of chatter, I cannot leave out levels 2 and 5, and English Club. These 3 groups are notorious for filling Mission Adelante and the Lighthouse with boisterous laughter about the silly parts of the English language that just don’t make sense, or about how something translates (or doesn’t!). For example, an “EXIT ONLY” sign could easily be mistranslated as “SOLAMENTE ÉXITO” which translates literally to “ONLY SUCCESS”. Haha! Please tell me which door I need to walk through for THAT! Then, there is the infamous, hilariously awkward moment (especially if you’re a dude) when someone goes from obviously already being embarrassed to wanting to teleport to anywhere but where they are currently when saying “Estoy embarazada” (“I’m pregnant.”) when attempting to say “I am embarrassed.” That one will never get old!
There is a LOT of humor when you are learning a new language! On Monday and Thursday nights, Mission Adelante is filled with boisterous laughter during our Latino English Language classes and conversational English Club about the silly parts of the English language that just don’t make sense, or about how something translates (or doesn’t!). For example, an “EXIT ONLY” sign could easily be mistranslated as “SOLAMENTE ÉXITO” which translates literally to “ONLY SUCCESS”. Please tell me which door I need to walk through for THAT! Then, there is the infamous, hilariously awkward moment when a volunteer tries to express embarrassment by saying: “Estoy embarazada” (“I’m pregnant.”) when attempting to say “I am embarrassed.” For someone who is already embarrassed (especially if you’re a dude!), it is a hilarious moment of class laughing together as they are learning. That one will never get old!
We also have our quieter classes, but don’t get it twisted! The bonds and friendships are real and thriving. The volunteers in both levels 3 and 4 are really dedicated to the success of their students and show concern and follow up with students when they miss class. We have a student that was in need of some reference letters to help her in a delicate legal matter and the volunteers and I were able to write heartfelt letters for her. And, at the mention of friendship, it makes me think of the “girls class” where three of our seasoned women volunteers teach and observe the four students in the class who just happen to be women also. There are always tender smiles on their faces when I step in to say “hello!” on Thursday evenings.
During one of the test days at Mission Adelante, many of the students were somewhat nervous to put the English they had been learning for the past 11 weeks to the test. After wiping the sweat from their brows and turning their tests in to the teachers, the results were in! One of the students did much better on the test than the other four people; however, after the students talked about it, all five students agreed they could use more instruction on understanding how to speak in the past tense and did not feel comfortable moving to level 5 just yet. They decided- “WE STAY TOGETHER!” and moved backwards TOGETHER to the level 3 of a brand new curriculum we were rolling out that focuses on the past tense. Though one of the students could have progressed, the bonds and friendships that are forming between students and volunteers, sharing meals together and lots of laughter is just as important as language proficiency.
I will close by saying that one of the few rules for ESL volunteers that I was handed down from my predecessor is “Don't tell your student you won’t be in class if you have to miss”. This handed-down rule is the product of someone coming to the conclusion that the bonds and friendships being formed through our program go much deeper than just adding a new name to a list of Facebook friends. Why shouldn’t our volunteers tell their students that they will miss class you ask? We have found that students tend to skip class when they know their conversation partner will be absent. I have not necessarily asked any of the students why this is but it’s obvious, in my opinion, that students value the open communication, reliability, empathy, and opportunities for vulnerability that develop over the first few classes with their conversation partner. At Mission Adelante, our hope is that the relationships built during class would continue to exist, grow, and thrive long after the student graduates from the program!
If you, or someone you know, is interested in experiencing any or all of the above life-giving experiences, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
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Our work is only possible through the prayerful generosity of our partners. We are working on strengthening our ability to provide programs like English Language classes by inviting people to become monthly partners through our WE initiative. Would you consider being one of the 50 people who begin giving $100/month? You can support our work by giving online: www.missionadelante.org/give
