Library Offers Free ESL ClassesDesert Sun: May 29, 2009 by Aldrich M. Tan
A group of 12 students clap their hands as they sing a song to review the days of the week in the small conference room of the Indio Public Library. “Time flies. Days go by,” the students chant with teacher Hank Altheide. “Sunday. Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday.”
These are not typical students. They are mostly adults over age 30 working on learning how to speak English through Altheide's English as a second language, or ESL, class. The teacher from La Quinta is seeing his numbers grow as more students find out about the free classes.
Altheide has been teaching the class for at least three months through the Riverside County Library System's Adult Literacy Program. The program has been around for at least 10 years, said Cindy Delanty, deputy administrator for the Riverside County Library System. There are similar programs throughout the county, including in Desert Hot Springs, Cathedral City and Coachella, Delanty said.
The classes are free for the students, but it costs $160,000 in local, state and federal contributions to run all of the sites, Delanty said.
The county library is expecting a 10 percent drop from state and federal contributions. What effect that will have on the ESL classes is not known.
The ESL class at the Indio library meets on Monday and Tuesday evenings, and there is a study group with a volunteer teacher on Wednesday nights, Altheide said. READ MORE !
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