We are called to work so that every person's dignity is respected, the immigrant welcomed as brother or sister, and all humanity forms a united family which knows how to appreciate with discernment the different cultures which comprise it.
-Pope John Paul II
IN THIS ISSUE:
- Amy's Ramblings
- ESL Update
- Tip of the Month
- Site Coordinator Spotlight
- October's Vignette
- Bits and Pieces
awhite@ccda.net, x235
Cindy Brown, Associate ESL Coordinator
cbrown@ccda.net, x239
Diana Gibson, Associate ESL Coordinator
dgibson@ccda.net, x231
Erin Maradiegue, Associate ESL Coordinator
emaradiegue@ccda.net, x251
Kristen Gasimov, Associate ESL Coordinator
kgasimov@ccda.net, x237
Sheila Sullivan, Associate ESL Coordinator
ssullivan@ccda.net, x238
Phil Spencer, Associate ESL Coordinator
pspencer@ccda.net, x243
6201 Leesburg Pike
Suite 307
Falls Church, VA 22044
(T) 703-534-9805
(F) 703-534-9809
www.ccda.net
If you would like to have this newsletter sent to a different e-mail address or if you would like to unsubscribe from the mailing list, please e-mail emaradiegue@ccda.net.
Greetings wonderful volunteers and friends of Hogar Hispano! As some of you know, I recently embarked on a Habitat for Humanity build in the Quiche region of Guatemala. Fifteen volunteers from all over the United States, Canada, and England met in Guatemala City and after a brief orientation, we made our way into the rural countryside to offer our blood, sweat and tears. I had never done anything like this before! I thought to myself “how on earth am I going to build someone’s house?” After sorting through some initial language barriers (the mason’s who assisted us first language was the indigenous Quiche language), as well as cultural barriers (they are not accustomed to women performing construction work), we got down to business. Two families were depending on our help to build their homes. My family was comprised of single mother, Nancy and her two adorable sons, Ivan and Dixon. It was apparent from the beginning that the family was very deserving of Habitat’s support and I felt really good about contributing to such a worthwhile organization. It’s undeniable how amazing it was to see the fruits of our labor turn into Nancy’s home.
However, not everything was so warm and fuzzy. In all of my travels, I have not encountered the kind of poverty that I witnessed in Guatemala. They estimate that over 1.6 million people lack adequate housing. Violence and crime are still rampant throughout the country as people struggle to overcome the period of extreme violence that ended only 10 years ago. Even though I was thousands of miles away, Hogar Hispano was never far from my thoughts. I thought about our students who make the often treacherous journey to the United States looking for a better life. I thought about all of you, our dedicated volunteers, who break down language and cultural barriers every week. Being in Guatemala recharged my batteries and I’m more motivated than ever to be working alongside you.
I would love to see you at one of our upcoming trainings – please check out the remaining trainings below. Also don’t miss the special feature by Chris Henderson, a guest writer for E-news, about female students’ difficulties in attending classes.
Thanks for everything – you inspire me!
Amy White
ESL Program Coordinator
Hogar Hispano's Training Series
Our training series is underway! If you were unable to attend the trainings we had in October, take a look at our November sessions. This is a great chance to hear some new ideas that are sure to spice up your classroom and keep your students focused. Attendance at a training will count towards your 10-hour training requirement. Please RSVP to Erin Maradiegue at emaradiegue@ccda.net with your name, teaching site, email, phone number, and which training you are planning to attend.
| Teaching a Multilevel Class Trainers: Erin Maradiegue and Sheila Sullivan November 3, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Hogar Hispano Office, Falls Church Whether you teach a beginner, intermediate or advanced class, there are always students of varying levels and abilities within a classroom. How do you meet the needs of all learners and keep everyone’s attention? In this training, discover how to identify your students’ goals as adult English learners and create an environment where everyone is engaged and comfortable. |
Let’s Dialogue! How to make dialogues more exciting for you and your students! Trainers: Amy White and Cindy Brown November 10, 1:00 - 3:00 pm Hogar Hispano Office, Falls Church Are you tired of using the same format to introduce a new dialogue? Your students might be too! Come to this two hour training that will give you new ideas about how to teach those pesky dialogues and interesting ways to keep students engaged. You will also have a chance to brainstorm with fellow teachers and find out what works for them. Bring your questions and issues that have come up in class and let’s get ready to dialogue! |
Tip of the Month
Crosswords are a fun way to teach or review vocabulary. They incorporate a number of important skills that will benefit your students, including spelling and reasoning. A crossword is an effective tool to ensure that your students are able to identify and understand the use of a term in context. Furthermore, you can use them as a springboard to discuss cultural variations and customs with your students. For example, the crossword below has a Halloween theme. After introducing the vocabulary and completing the puzzle, the class can compare and contrast the way Halloween is celebrated in your students' native countries and the US.
Crossword puzzles are good for classes of all levels. By changing the vocabulary or the difficulty of the clues, they can be tailored to beginner, intermediate, or advanced classes.
| Across 3. A funny costume. 5. What do you wear on your face? 6. _____-or-treat! 8. Scary thing that says boo. 10. Roasted pumpkin _____. 11. Small black animal that can fly. 12. Kids eat lots of this. Down 1. A monster with many bandages. 2. ____-o'-lantern 3. What do you wear on Halloween? 4. A woman with a pointy black hat. 7. A witch's pet. 9. spooky Courtesy of: http://bogglesworldesl.com |
Happy Halloween! |
Daely Castillo currently runs the Hogar Hispano ESL site in Annandale at St. Michael Parish. She has been devoting her time and energy for the past three semesters with no signs of letting up! She was kind enough to take a few minutes from her busy workday (of running all the community programs at St. Michael) to speak with us about her experiences.What inspires you in your involvement with the ESL program?
First, my heart is right there. I was born in Guatemala, and even though I did learn English there, it was difficult to come to a new society and start speaking English as a native. At that time, I had a thick accent and native speakers had a hard time understanding what I was trying to say. I think that one does not really learn a language until one spends time in a particular society. For me, the most frustrating thing was not being able to fully express my thoughts. I am sure it is even more frustrating for those that come here without any English background, to be immersed in a new society where language is a huge barrier. I know what it is like not to have English as a first language; therefore, the little I am doing here to provide these classes to adults who need it and want to learn is a good thing.
What do you think makes a successful program?
We have wonderful volunteers and a good number of students in the classes. The students who come are very interested in learning the language. I recall we had one class where the number of students was dropping; I was concerned for the instructor, but he told me, “Daely, if I have just one student who wants to learn, I will teach.” I have story after story about volunteer teachers who bring extra materials to improve and promote learning. They go out of their way to make sure the students are understanding and learning the information they are presenting. I rarely have late or absent teachers; they are incredible. I guess the highlight is that they are extremely caring towards their students. I had a comment from a student that our instructors are better than the instructors are at NOVA! We truly have first-class volunteers- they are all wonderful.
I try to challenge students to attend classes regularly and to use a dictionary. I remember one student wanted to get a dictionary after we had run out. I found one for him and said, “I will give you this dictionary, but you have to promise me you will learn this many words each time you come to class”. He took it seriously, you could really see his progress each time he came to class. It really excites me to see the confidence they get when they have achieved a new level of English. For instance, the beginners being able to introduce themselves, or say “hello”, “bye”, “goodnight”. The advanced students are truly amazing; one can tell how comfortable they are when using English to communicate. In the advanced classes, they talk about current events, American society and where the students come from. It is not just learning English in the classroom, it is culture. In addition, the teachers learn from the students as well. It is a two-way exchange of learning.
What do you like to do (besides run the St. Michael ESL program!)?
I coordinate the programs for St. Michael Parish. Our latest program was the very successful “International Festival”. It was a success because of the many people who were involved. I try to involve as many parishioners as possible, anyone who has any relationship with the parish is invited to participate in any fashion. For instance, I invited the ESL group to participate either as a volunteer or just to come and enjoy the activities. I got some of our volunteer teachers involved and some of our students came to the festival with their families. Actually, our very own Amy White was one of our performers for the Dinner Dance. She and her dance partner performed a salsa routine. Besides working at Saint Michael's Church, I also spend time with my family and friends. I like classical music and the theater. One of my favorite places during the summer is Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. I have three children, 28, 18, and 16. Sometimes my daughters come to help me with the ESL program during our break- we offer the students a snack table that includes coffee, tea, hot water and cookies. We also celebrate birthdays. Usually the students bring a cake and we sing happy birthday, in English! One of my daughters and her friend, Dan Begg, are helping me with a new project- an ESL library for our students. One of our parishioners is a volunteer for a neighboring library and she has been collecting books and dictionaries for our ESL program. Now we have enough books to create our own small library for the students. This project should be completed before this semester is over. As you can see the ESL program is more than learning English!
Thank you so much for everything you do, Daely. Keep up the amazing work!
Female Students Jump A Variety Of Hurdles To Attend Class
Written by Chris Henderson
The bus lumbers away and there it is: a street sign that clearly indicates I'm lost. I try a man walking past: "Do you know where St. Rita's is?" He looks at me, blank, then shakes his head apologetically. Fumbling with my tiny Spanish vocabulary, I try again: "Dónde… church?" He smiles and turns up his hands, then walks away from me. I call a friend to ask for help and wander uphill, listening for familiar words and looking for signs. Finally, a suspiciously pointed roof looms out of the darkness across the street. Saved. I hurry inside. The women I came to Arlington to speak with know all about difficulties asking for directions. Students in Hogar Hispano's advanced ESL class at St. Rita's Catholic Church, they sit front and center in the first-grade classroom, leaning forward in the pint-sized bright red chairs to follow along as other students read from the handouts. Toey (pronounced "Too-ee") arrived from Thailand just five months ago and works as an au pair. A twenty-something with a wide smile and fashionably faded jeans, her movements and words come in sharp staccato bursts. Herminia sits next to her, relaxed in a lime-green short-sleeved shirt and khakis, her deep, almost gravelly voice warm as she talks about the older couple she works for seven days a week. She proudly tells me that the husband, 97, still works at the Environmental Protection Agency, but she worries that the 95-year-old wife might stumble with her walker if nobody were there to assist her.
Thinking of the mishap in my commute that night, I ask them if they ever have trouble getting to class. Herminia shakes her head and tells me that her bosses are very understanding, but Toey is not so lucky. "I do! 'Cause I live with my host family, they don't allow me to drive, so they drive me, but when they are busy… when they are not comfortable to drive me, I can't come." She cannot stay for long to talk after class because they are waiting outside for her. Diana, another woman from the class, also had to leave right away because her daughter was waiting to take her home. Before she darts out the door, Toey tells me she wants to stay here to study for a Masters degree in communications if things work out with her visa. She has been taking English since she was five in Thailand, but she says it's not the same now that she is here and everything is in English. Herminia agrees; she also started English in first grade in the Philipines, but still feels she needs the classes so she can be good enough to get her United States citizenship.
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Other female students I've spoken with agree. Rossana, a quiet Bolivian student in the intermediate class at Hogar Hispano’s Falls Church office site, says that she originally tried taking classes at Arlington Mill Community Center. She had to drop out because her job at a veterinary hospital often let her out too late to make it to class. Now that she does not have a job she has time for classes, but she is five months pregnant. Her sister-in law-has offered to help with childcare so that she can keep coming, but Rossana is not sure whether she will be able to handle classes once she has a newborn. Shaloo, an Indian student who attends class at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Sterling, also had to drop out of a previous set of classes due to a medical issue. Now she and her husband switch off covering shifts at their music store and he watches their younger son so that Shaloo can come to class.
Diana Gibson, a Hogar Associate ESL Coordinator and site coordinator, tells me that several female students have come to her with childcare issues. The Hogar Hispano program cannot allow children in the classrooms or provide childcare services, so students lean on their extended family and friends to work out arrangements. In some instances the children are not even the students' own. Women who work as nannies or au pairs also sometimes have problems coming to class because of their charges. Diana says that some students agree to share their childcare responsibilities by alternating days of class with days of staying at home with the kids. The days that Student A attends class, Student B watches her children and vice versa.
Others do not have childcare issues, but the actual act of driving to class can pose a challenge. One woman in Rossana's class mentioned that it took her three months to pass the written driving test, and another said she only started driving once she came to America and only feels comfortable making right turns. She and a friend set up a carpool and call each other to see who will drive that day.
Despite the difficulties, each woman says she would absolutely encourage other women to take ESL classes. Shaloo tells me that learning English is crucial for women who come to America from other countries: "[It's] something nobody can steal, especially for professional women... you don't know what's going to happen in the future, and it's something you'll always have." No matter what arrangements she and the other women have to make to get to class, they believe that being able to clearly communicate in their new chosen home is more than worth the struggle.
Help Others To Become U.S. Citizens
Become a part of the citizenship process by volunteering to help fill out U.S. Naturalization applications at Hogar Hispano's Citizenship Workshop. Training is provided at the workshop.When: December 1, 2007, 9:30 am - 5:00 pm. Stay as long as you can.
Where: Arlington Mill Community Center, 4975 Columbia Pike, Arlington, VA
Contact: Diana Gibson, dgibson@ccda.net or 703-534-9805 ext. 250
Lunch is provided
Workshops are held every six to eight weeks, so if you can't make this one, look out for the next one.
Holiday Gift Wrapping For Literacy!
It's not even Halloween yet, but we're already talking about the holidays? It's true! The Literacy Council of Northern Virginia will be gift wrapping at local bookstores again this December to raise funds for our educational programs and promote our mission to the community. We have LOTS of shifts available in five different bookstores: Barnes and Noble at Tysons Corner, Borders at Tysons Corner, Borders at Pentagon City, Barnes and Noble at Seven Corners, and Borders at Bailey's Crossroads. This is a great volunteer opportunity to do with your children (all individuals 18 or under must be accompanied by a parent), spouses or significant others, relatives, friends, co-workers, book club members (or other organizations you are a part of)… you name it! Catch the holiday spirit and help out a wonderful cause!
Are you interested in gift wrapping this holiday season? Please contact Belle at volunteers@lcnv.org or 703-237-0866 x111 for more information. Looking forward to hearing from you!