Education is known to be one of the best things one can give to themselves. For most immigrants, it is another way of leaving their home countries to seek a better life. American Education is one of the best around the world and some of these immigrants take advantage of it. Since America’s first language is English all teachings are done in that.
Immigrants who come from non-English speaking countries like China, Puerto Rico and France sometimes face a lot of challenges because of the language barrier. Dr. Bertha Jones an English Professor at San Jacinto Community College has had experiences teaching such foreign students in a class she teaches titled English as a Second Language (ESL).
Dr. Jones has been teaching the class for over 20 years at San Jacinto Community College, where she first started teaching. She further went to explain how she got into that. Her grandparents were Spanish speaking immigrants from Costa Rica they hardly spoke English. At a tender age, she recalls being the one translating for them whenever they came to visit. Though her parents were also immigrants they had little education on how to communicate with people in English.
She expressed how excited she was to teach her first English class when she got a job offer after college. “I could not hide the joy after that phone call ended. I called my parents right away for them to know I had been offered a teaching position 2 weeks after graduating from college, said Dr. Jones.”
ESL is a beginner’s class that tutors people with little to none English background. After one is done taking and passing this class, they are then given the opportunity to go through 3 various stages in the English program. The stages are as follows; beginners, Intermediary and Advance (College English). Each of these levels prepares students for an easy transition into being comfortable reading and writing in English.
With her experience in teaching English, she has taught a lot of foreign students and added that immigrants from different non-English speaking countries are her favorites. She also explained further why teaching immigrants’ students are her favorite part. “Teaching foreign students is easy and not a challenge because they only take English classes as a requirement. Unlike students who come from non-English speaking countries, DR. Jones said.” Those students from non-English speaking countries must master a way of making English their primary language especially because they would like to live and work in the U.S. Foreign students do not have to worry about that part because most of them do not plan to stay in the States after school.
Nene Kabutey Lander 