San Diego Public Library - READ San Diego - Adult achievement, literally: Man, 54, learning to read and write

Adult achievement, literally: Man, 54, learning to read and writeSan Diego Union Tribune: July 31, 2006 by David E Graham

Library program pairs illiterate, literate adults

At age 52, John Berry had been a tile layer all his adult life when his company offered him a promotion, but it came with one requirement: He had to promise to learn to read and write.


He resisted, but his bosses at California Tile Co. in Clairemont insisted. So he set about to master those skills most Americans take for granted to assume the duties of an assistant supervisor, guiding crews in myriad indoor and outdoor tiling projects, filling out simple notes and even doing some billing.

“I was excited. . . . I didn't know what to expect,” Berry recalled of his first meeting in September 2004.

He soon realized, “I know this guy's going to help me.”

The two men of disparate backgrounds and means were matched as tutor and student through the San Diego Library's adult literacy program, which pairs hundreds of adults who read and write poorly with volunteer tutors, many working professionals.

As Berry sought a way to keep his word to his employer, someone gave him a pamphlet about the literacy program.

He makes the trip, usually from a work site, to the offices of Solomon, Ward, Seidenwurm & Smith, which occupy the 12th floor of the Wells Fargo Building and boast a commanding view of the bay, surrounded by skyscrapers and Balboa Park. Solomon, 74, is founding partner in the firm.

For one recent lesson, they met in a small, quiet room and for a time talked about spelling, going over a list of words Berry had written in pencil on a single sheet of yellow legal paper. He prefers a pencil, like one he held with a rounded lead tip and worn eraser, because mistakes are easier to correct.

“The eraser is my best friend,” Berry said.

Getting to work

The men open a workbook that has sentences to complete with the correct word, exercises in comparative and superlative adjectives, a page that broaches concepts of comparing and contrasting and another that deals with subject-verb agreement.
Berry struggles as he tries to pronounce a word he doesn't recognize.

“Take it slowly,” Solomon encourages.

Berry tries again, “Whu . . . Whu . . . ,” his mouth drawing rigid as he searches for the pronunciation, then says, “Oh God,” and in apparent frustration tilts his head back. The men work together a moment, and he pronounces the word: “What.”

He has difficulty, still, recognizing a few words starting with “wh”: what, when, where.
To not know why the men are here, one might imagine them thrown together by happenstance, like two people standing together on an airport escalator or catching the same elevator but for different errands on different floors.

Affable and earnest, Berry sits in blue jeans, scuffed, tan work boots and white shirt with his company's logo on the chest. Solomon wears gray dress slacks, a crisp white shirt, a dark tie and black dress shoes that would fit at the socials and fundraisers he attended when he was chairman of the board for the San Diego Symphony.

Solomon offers a succinct answer to why he tutors: “It gives me an opportunity, in a small way, to contribute to the solution of one our great social problems.”

Berry continues reading words from the workbook, haltingly, a few he recognizes then one he slows upon. He misses a word, but pronounces instead a word he knows that looks similar.

“You're guessing, aren't you?” Solomon interjects. “That's how he's gotten through his life. It looks like something.”

Getting by

Indeed, Berry has learned to recognize enough key words and symbols to get by, such as restroom signs. He took his DMV exam orally and memorized words to use in his work. Also, his work at grouting tile and setting up materials for a job involves numbers more than reading, he said, adding to its attraction. “There was very little reading in tile,” he said.

Berry, who has two adult daughters, communicates efficiently when he speaks and takes care of himself and his family. He just never mastered the mechanics of reading and writing: phonics – the sounding out of written words – as well as the rules of grammar and syntax and their nuances.

Guessing, and some pride, sometimes created difficult circumstances for him, such as a couple years ago when he leased a pickup truck without understanding the contract, with its extra fees for excessive mileage and for returning it early. He still is paying off a $13,000 debt the deal left him with. He wanted the truck so much he got it the same day, and when presented the contract, he couldn't understand it but just kept turning pages.

“I just skipped through it and pretended I was reading it,” Berry said. “I always did things myself. I hated to ask for help.”

Growing up in Chula Vista, he was thought to be a slow learner and was placed in some special eduction classes at Bonita Vista High School. He did not receive much encouragement at home.

He realized the way to move through school was to “keep my mouth shut.” He received a certificate of attendance.

In a situation in which it's apparent he can't read well, people often look disparagingly at him. “They think you're stupid,” he said.

It's clear he's not. He just has problems reading.

Berry and Solomon say he has progressed to about a fourth-or fifth-grade level on a journey that started, Berry notes, with his mastering the alphabet.

“I can read now for the first time in my life,” Berry said. “Now I'm reading.”

On the job, he reads short notes and road signs, whereas in the past he relied on landmarks for directions. But mostly his supervisory duties involve checking that work is done correctly and planning what will be needed for large projects, perhaps a condominium construction. More important, perhaps, he believes he can express himself better in meetings at work.

“When I walk into a job, I feel just a little bit different, a little more confident in myself,” Berry said.

Of Solomon, he says now, “He's like my dad.” Berry said the relationship has grown so that he even seeks advice during class on occasional personal problems. Solomon regards his efforts here as a way to help a single person.

And now that Berry's working his way up the reading ladder, he has some ambitions beyond reading a little at work.

“I want to sit and read a newspaper,” Berry said.

“Without knowledge, your world is black. You gotta have knowledge.”

After newspapers, some books.

“I want to sit in my chair and go around the world. You can travel around the world in books. I want to learn about the world.”

Photo: Herb Solomon (right) explained a rule of phonetics to John Berry, whom Solomon has been teaching to read and write for a year and a half. Since the offer two years ago, Berry, now 54, has driven twice a week to a downtown San Diego skyscraper, where he meets with attorney Herbert Solomon, who volunteers three hours a week to teach Berry to read.