Literacy: Spanning the U.S.
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Area
Literacy Program To Expand To Culture, Citizenship
Post
Star: 8.23.2018 by Andrew David Kuczkowski
Idioms like “out of left field,” “add insult to injury” and “break a
leg” are the Achilles’ heel of those who are learning the English language.
Literacy New York Greater Capital
Region’s Glens Falls branch is expanding its services to teach American
culture, including idioms, as well as how to read, write and other basic
knowledge that can help students gain high school equivalencies and higher
degrees.
Literacy
New York began in Syracuse in the early 1960s. Members of a Syracuse-area
church found some people who struggled with literacy were having difficulty in
their employment or other parts of life. The literacy effort spread throughout
New York to create the program, Program Coordinator Roseann Anzalone said.
The
literacy service has two area locations, in Glens Falls and Chestertown. With
some students thriving in the basics course, the Glens Falls Literacy New York
group will design a second-level class for citizenship, job applications and
cultural differences that may expand to Chestertown at a later time.
“We
are trying to change it up a little bit,” Anzalone said. “We are offering a
little bit more beyond that … and help them with their citizenship.”
One
student who only wanted to be identified by his first name, Rolando, has
completed the first-level program with his wife and continues tutoring to
strengthen their English. They finished their green card application in January
and are looking to gain citizenship. READ
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Nebraska Companies Provide English Language Instruction At Work
Net
Nebraska: 8.29.2018 by Pamela Thompson
When
immigrants and refugees come to Nebraska, often their biggest hurdle is
communicating. To help these immigrants acclimate to their new home, a literacy
nonprofit is partnering with more companies to provide on-site instruction in
English reading, speaking, and writing.
Before
Po Shin and his mother immigrated to Lincoln, he lived in a poor village in
southeastern Asia with no running water or electricity. Each day’s ration of
food was foraged by fishing and hunting in the nearby jungle.
Today,
he works in metal fabrication at Total Manufacturing Company or TMCO, eats fast
food for lunch, and has just enrolled his son Kenny in preschool.
Shin
says adjusting to life to Nebraska’s capital city has been easier once he
started to learn English. In Myanmar, located between Bangladesh and Thailand,
his family spoke only Burmese. He has had to work hard to learn both his job and
basic English.
“When
you move to a different country it is like you are just born. It doesn’t matter
how are you. Because if you live in that country, you have to know the rules,
know the culture, know especially the languages,” Shin said.
Shin
has been learning English between his work shifts in a weekly class taught by
English language volunteer tutors. Clayton Naff, Lincoln Literacy executive director,
says the on-site language classes developed from partnerships with several area
companies that employ large numbers of immigrants and refugees. LISTEN 05:38
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Wayne
Public Library's Free ESL Program Is Growing With Demand
North
Jersey Record: 8.30.2018 by Philip DeVencentis
Marleen
Grabowsky considers her day to be a success if — and only if — each one of her
students learns a new word.
And
on a recent Tuesday morning at the Wayne
Public Library, the word of the day in the volunteer tutor’s class for
English-language learners was a toughie. Thirteen adult students, hailing from
as far away as China, Italy and Turkey, worked together to dissect a message
President Donald Trump had posted on Twitter. It contained the word “sanction.”
The
context of that message was the president’s decision to withdraw from a deal
with Iran that was agreed to under the Obama administration to lift sanctions
on the Middle East nation, in exchange for the country's reducing its nuclear
arsenal.
Grabowsky’s
English as a second language class, which meets each week at the main branch of
the library at 461 Valley Road, uses a computer-based audio program called
“Voice of America” to study vocabulary relevant to current affairs and national
trends.
“They
have no idea the gratitude I feel,” Grabowsky, a retired Paterson teacher and
Wayne resident, said of her students. “I get so much more from them and receive
so much more reward from what they give to me as a teacher.” READ
MORE >>
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Kern
County Continues To See Poor Literacy Rates As Campaign Attempts To Chip Away At
Numbers
Turnto23:
8.29.2018 by Brandon Johansen
The
Kern County Literacy Council says
literacy statistics in the county are still poor.
According to the KLC:
➤13.9%
of Kern County adults lack the basic literacy skills necessary to perform daily
job functions
(U.S. Census Bureau, 2010).
➤15%
of county adults have not attained at 9th-grade literacy level
(U.S. Census
Bureau, 2010).
➤27%
of Kern County adults over 25 do not have a high school diploma
(U.S. Census
2010-2014 American Community Survey-5 Year Estimates)
The
KLC offers tutoring for people in the county who lack literacy skills, but they
say it can be hard to get people to ask for help.
"A
lot of students that come here ask us, 'please don't tell anyone that I'm
here'," said Gabriela Gamboa, program coordinator at KLC.
"In
the six years I've been here, I can state that Kern County is not in a good
place, education-wise," Gamboa said. "We have people who come here
who don't know how to read, who have a high school diploma and don't know how
to read." WATCH 02:36
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