Huntington Beach Library - Literacy Program Helps Newcomers Improve Their English

Literacy Program Helps Newcomers Improve Their English

Pacific News: March 29, 2006 by Josie Cabiglio

Immigrants to the United States often take ESL to learn to speak, yet for many, it isn’t enough. Finishing those English as a Second Language courses, some find out they cannot read or write as well as they should to get a job or to connect to fluent sons and daughters.

In other cases, even people born and raised in the U.S. do not master these skills they need to succeed. In fact, studies show that one-fifth of our adult population lack the reading capability to cope successfully as workers, parents and citizens, yet low-cost or free help is within reach.

Enter literacy.

Thanks to nearly 1,200 affiliates of ProLiteracy America, tutoring is available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, offering one-on-one service by trained individuals.

Since it began in 1984, the Literacy Volunteers program at Huntington Beach’s Public Library in California alone has helped nearly 5,000 people — both American-born and newcomers from such countries as Vietnam, China, Mexico and Japan. Through the years, participants have worked with about 4,500 tutors, at times gathering in two-hour weekly sessions. There’s no charge; it’s confidential and personalized.

Another two-hour session Thursday mornings focuses on conversation, led by Caroline Fuelling. Here, Vietnamese students join in, building on what they picked up from the tutoring side. They debate cultural differences and current events, along with problems they faced, say, the previous week at the office, said Anna Combs, a literacy specialist and assistant to Rose Saylin, who runs the program.

Some mothers and fathers who go to the center have youngsters who “are pretty fluent and the parents feel lost. They want to help with homework, but can’t,” Combs said. “Kids can be very critical. Or they are embarrassed,” pushing the adults to want to improve even more, she said.

“Women come here, especially Asians, who worked hard all their lives” and once in this country, still “put food on the table and their children through college. Now they feel, ‘It’s my turn,’ “ she noted.

To qualify for most of the tutoring, students must have some proficiency in English as these are not ESL sessions, Combs said. And for the Huntington Beach program, attendees also must live or work in or near the city. They will be taught by men and women completing at least one 15-hour training session before being matched to their charges.

Only two months after taking the sessions in Huntington Beach, Hai Nguyen, who settled in the U.S. just two years ago, can honestly say his English has advanced greatly and that he feels more confident speaking, reading and writing, inspired by his tutor, Karen Kliem. READ MORE