January 2018
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Volume 6, Issue 1
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The Insider
The Insider, the monthly newsletter of LVA, Essex & Passaic Counties, will keep you in the loop on all of the organization’s upcoming events.
”Understanding Adult Education in New Jersey,” a tutor support workshop with Cristhian Barcelos, provided tutors with an inside look at adult education efforts in the Garden State.
Literacy Volunteers of America Essex & Passaic Counties
90 Broad Street, 2nd Floor, Bloomfield, NJ 07003
(973) 566-6200, ext. 217 or 225 195 Gregory Avenue, 2nd Floor, Passaic, NJ 07055 (973) 470-0039 Cristhian Barcelos -Executive Director
cbarcelos@lvaep.org Russell Ben Ali -Recruitment & Training Coordinator rbenali@lvaep.org Jorge Chavez -Data Processing Coordinator jchavez@lvaep.org Debbie Graham -Education Coordinator dgraham@lvaep.org Mary O’Connor -Trainer & Tutor Support Specialist moconnor@lvaep.org Marisol Ramirez -Student Coordinator mramirez@lvaep.org |
Greetings LVA Family,
They say a new year is like a new page to start from anew, one on which to write an optimistic new chapter of your life. We hope the new year brings you plenty of opportunities to write a tale of happiness, hope, and success. Happy New Year! The New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning (NJALL) and other adult advocacy organizations are fighting to oppose proposed federal cuts to adult basic education programs and they could use our help. The organization urges you to join the COABE (Coalition for Adult Basic Education) Invest in Adult Education campaign by contacting your members of Congress, governor and mayor to get them to support Adult Ed. And it’s easy to do with a couple of clicks on COABE’s website link: https://www.coabe.org/legislative-center/ Thank you Cristhian Barcelos, for an informative tutor support workshop last month on “Understanding Adult Education.” Cristhian, the executive director of LVA Essex & Passaic Counties, provided tutors with an inside look at the work organizations carry out to improve adult literacy across the state. For the next tutor support workshops, please see Page 2 of this e-newsletter. The government this week began accepting renewal requests from recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. But the future of the federal program that grants temporary protection from deportation for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children is far from certain. These links provide general information on the program, as well as a perspective from NJ. https://goo.gl/3TK155 https://goo.gl/DzRESq The tutor support group will meet Tuesday, January 23rd, 12:30-2:00 pm, at Park United Methodist Church, 12 Park St, in Bloomfield. In the News
To view the following stories, copy and paste the highlighted website into an internet search bar.
‘This infographic shows which languages are hardest for English-Speakers to Learn,’ Science Alert. https://goo.gl/SRGUXa ‘The bilingual brain; Why one size doesn’t fit all,’ bigthink.com https://goo.gl/7ShGKP ‘Michigan veteran earns his high school diploma at age 91,’ The Suffolk Times. https://goo.gl/FzFNir ‘What it’s like to love someone in a second language,’ hellogiggles.com https://goo.gl/zUK3vZ |
Shalga is determined to earn a high school diploma, even at the age of 76. She studies daily, has two LVA tutors, and is enrolled in two different adult education programs.
Tutor Support Workshop
“Strategies for Teaching Decoding and Word Analysis Skills to Adult Literacy Students”
with Nora Devine Bloomfield Public Library 90 Broad Street, 2nd Floor Boardroom Bloomfield, NJ 07003 Wednesday, January 24, 2018, 1:00-2:30 pm “How to Address Reading Needs for Your Students and Lead Them To Success” with Bethany Blankenbeckler Bloomfield Public Library (address above) Tuesday, February 27, 2018, 1:00-2:30 pm Tutor Training Workshops
Montclair Public Library
-by Mary Kao 50 South Fullerton Avenue Montclair, NJ 07042 Saturdays, 12:15-3:45 pm January 27, February 3, 10, 17, & 24, 2018 Belleville Public Library -by Nina Peyser 221 Washington Avenue Belleville, NJ 07109 Tuesdays & Thursdays, 12:00-3:00 pm March 13, 15, 20, 22, 27, & 29, 2018 |
Getting to Know Us
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“Idiomatic English means Brits struggle to communicate with the world.”
It's a theory which is bound to put the cat among the pigeons. The British are proud of the idiomatic humour of their language.
But an academic has argued that they are actually falling behind because they insist on using phrases that the rest of the world does not understand. Professor Jennifer Jenkins, chair of Global Englishes at the University of Southampton, says that people who speak English as a first language are bad at changing their speech to suit non-native speakers, meaning they struggle to be understood. The divide means those who speak English as a second language speak it very differently to native speakers - and the two groups are increasingly unable to understand each other, she argues. Native speakers are also unwilling to make allowances for others by changing their speech patterns or slowing them down - meaning they struggle to socialise with non-native speakers who are better able to communicate with each other in English than they are with the British. The dynamic means the two groups could be unable to understand each other in as little as a decade - putting native speakers at a disadvantage with the rest of the world. In one case she interviewed Hungarian, German and Italian students who said they could speak to each other with perfect ease but only had trouble when a native English speaker joined the conversation. Reprinted from The Telegraph (London). For full story, paste the following link into an Internet search: https://goo.gl/zy2S3q Student Resources
Learning a new culture is more than studying a language. Tutoring is more than learning techniques. Our ‘Resources’ page covers everything from legal matters, health care, & scholarships for immigrants, to professional development for tutors. Give us a look @:
http://www.lvaep.org/students.html |
Getting to Know Us
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Adult Literacy & Community Library Partnership Pilot Program
There’s a lot one can learn in an English class for adults, and it’s not all gathered from repeating phrases or doing substitution drills and homework. There’s much that can be learned from classmates who come from all over the world, said Polatkan, a student from Turkey.
“Maybe we don’t have enough money but we feel richer because we’ve learned about different countries, cultures, a lot of traditional foods, music, dances, and habits,” said Polatkan, a retired sales manager who attended ESL classes along with his wife at the Hilton Branch of the Maplewood Memorial Library.
Polatkan’s class was offered through the Adult Literacy and Community Library Partnership, a state pilot grant program that aims to create direct partnerships between local libraries and adult literacy service providers. Together, libraries and literacy organizations provide training or language instruction that help New Jersey residents increase their Adult Basic Education and language proficiency skills in order to enhance their chances of finding employment outside of the low-skilled job market. Funds were granted to libraries throughout the state, including Maplewood, Passaic, and Paterson, which work with LVA to offer intensive ESL classes. The program is now in its second year. One round of classes in Maplewood, Passaic, and Paterson ended in December and new classes began this month.
“Before I felt like I couldn’t talk, couldn’t hear, nothing,” said Eugenia, a Hilton Branch student from Haiti who found work in a bakery. “Now I’m able to communicate better with people at work. On my job, if I can’t talk, I wouldn’t have the job.”
The last day of classes in the three libraries saw a mix of presentations by students, farewell speeches, gifts to teachers, a smorgasbord of dishes from students’ countries, laughter and tears.
“I’m so sad because this class is over,” said Alona, a Hilton Branch student and ecologist from the Ukraine.
“Before I didn’t speak English and knew maybe one person who spoke English,” added Polatkan. “Now I know 30 people who speak English. I am 54 years old and I am late, maybe, but I can do it. I never give up!”
“Maybe we don’t have enough money but we feel richer because we’ve learned about different countries, cultures, a lot of traditional foods, music, dances, and habits,” said Polatkan, a retired sales manager who attended ESL classes along with his wife at the Hilton Branch of the Maplewood Memorial Library.
Polatkan’s class was offered through the Adult Literacy and Community Library Partnership, a state pilot grant program that aims to create direct partnerships between local libraries and adult literacy service providers. Together, libraries and literacy organizations provide training or language instruction that help New Jersey residents increase their Adult Basic Education and language proficiency skills in order to enhance their chances of finding employment outside of the low-skilled job market. Funds were granted to libraries throughout the state, including Maplewood, Passaic, and Paterson, which work with LVA to offer intensive ESL classes. The program is now in its second year. One round of classes in Maplewood, Passaic, and Paterson ended in December and new classes began this month.
“Before I felt like I couldn’t talk, couldn’t hear, nothing,” said Eugenia, a Hilton Branch student from Haiti who found work in a bakery. “Now I’m able to communicate better with people at work. On my job, if I can’t talk, I wouldn’t have the job.”
The last day of classes in the three libraries saw a mix of presentations by students, farewell speeches, gifts to teachers, a smorgasbord of dishes from students’ countries, laughter and tears.
“I’m so sad because this class is over,” said Alona, a Hilton Branch student and ecologist from the Ukraine.
“Before I didn’t speak English and knew maybe one person who spoke English,” added Polatkan. “Now I know 30 people who speak English. I am 54 years old and I am late, maybe, but I can do it. I never give up!”
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The support of classmates can be vital for adults who try to manage their studies while demands from jobs, child-rearing, financial issues, or health issues, compete for their time.
Support certainly hasn’t hurt Ibtissam and Hafida, two Moroccan-born women who attended ESL classes in Paterson. The friends start each weekday morning by sharing a breakfast of mint tea and Moroccan bread dipped in argon oil before heading off to class and they credit their friendship with helping them avoid the loneliness that new immigrants often face. “We are so happy together,” said Ibtissam. They also study intensely and are always ready to help their classmate, said Jalaire Craver, their teachere at the Paterson Public Library. “Ibtissam and Hafida are pursuing the American dream, and enjoying each other’s company and support along the way,” Jalaire said.
Several students said they enrolled in the classes in order to better help their children or to advance on their jobs.
Milena, a student at the Passaic Public Library’s ESL program, is a Colombian-born woman who has lived in the U.S. for 20 years. She has spent much of her adult life working in factories where everyone spoke Spanish. "Everybody around me talked my language and I didn’t feel the pressure" to learn English, Milena said. Her motivation for enrolling in English classes was her 11-year-old twin boys, whom she wants to better communicate with and help, in English. “She shared that she went to a parent-teacher conference at her children's school and, for the first time, she didn't have to ask for an interpreter,” said her teacher, Grizzly Matias.
Robert came to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico in 1990, along with his wife and son. His degree in engineering and computer science helped him land a job with a company that builds specialized parts for military aircraft and boats but his lack of English meant limited opportunities for advancement or mobility. Within weeks of enrolling in ESL classes in Passaic, he reported feeling more confident, engaging in more conversations with his bosses, receiving a promotion to a higher paying position, and interviewing for other jobs. “He now has choices he would have not dreamed of before because of the lack of English,” said his teacher, Belitza Lopez.
Support certainly hasn’t hurt Ibtissam and Hafida, two Moroccan-born women who attended ESL classes in Paterson. The friends start each weekday morning by sharing a breakfast of mint tea and Moroccan bread dipped in argon oil before heading off to class and they credit their friendship with helping them avoid the loneliness that new immigrants often face. “We are so happy together,” said Ibtissam. They also study intensely and are always ready to help their classmate, said Jalaire Craver, their teachere at the Paterson Public Library. “Ibtissam and Hafida are pursuing the American dream, and enjoying each other’s company and support along the way,” Jalaire said.
Several students said they enrolled in the classes in order to better help their children or to advance on their jobs.
Milena, a student at the Passaic Public Library’s ESL program, is a Colombian-born woman who has lived in the U.S. for 20 years. She has spent much of her adult life working in factories where everyone spoke Spanish. "Everybody around me talked my language and I didn’t feel the pressure" to learn English, Milena said. Her motivation for enrolling in English classes was her 11-year-old twin boys, whom she wants to better communicate with and help, in English. “She shared that she went to a parent-teacher conference at her children's school and, for the first time, she didn't have to ask for an interpreter,” said her teacher, Grizzly Matias.
Robert came to the U.S. mainland from Puerto Rico in 1990, along with his wife and son. His degree in engineering and computer science helped him land a job with a company that builds specialized parts for military aircraft and boats but his lack of English meant limited opportunities for advancement or mobility. Within weeks of enrolling in ESL classes in Passaic, he reported feeling more confident, engaging in more conversations with his bosses, receiving a promotion to a higher paying position, and interviewing for other jobs. “He now has choices he would have not dreamed of before because of the lack of English,” said his teacher, Belitza Lopez.
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