College of DuPage’s ESL cuts rile teachers
Cuts to the English as a Second Language program at College of DuPage have some people worried about its future.
College officials are cutting 36 ESL classes for the upcoming spring semester and requiring that each class has 21 registered students in an effort close a program budget shortfall that has cost COD $4 million during the past five years.
Daily Herald | College of DuPage’s ESL changes riles teachers.
Esl Teaching is the New Career for Stay Home Moms
Teaching English as a Secondary Language ESL online has proven to be one the fastest-growing online jobs nowadays. More foreigners are recognizing the benefits of being fluent in English, and the target market is no longer concentrated only on students, but on business professionals as well. Besides that, people find that ESL teaching doesn’t just pay well; it also meets the needs of individuals who find it more comfortable working at home.
Read full article via Literacy News.
CDC Volunteers Help Farmworkers
Ana Alfaro-Correa, center, has volunteered nearly each summer in the last decade as an interpreter for the Emory University farmworker assistance program.
For almost 10 years in a row, Ana Alfaro-Correa has spent her summer vacation in the hot, gnatty, mosquito-prone fields of south Georgia helping migrant farmworkers receive high-quality health care.
Alfaro-Correa, a public health analyst in the Division of Diabetes Translation, is among several CDC employees who volunteer with the South Georgia Farmworker Health Project as Spanish and Haitian-Creole interpreters. They join a team of Emory University Physician Assistant Program students, medical students, PA and medical faculty members and other volunteers to provide free basic health care to 1,400 to 1,600 migrant and seasonal farmworkers in migrant camps, packing sheds and other nontraditional clinical settings.
Collaboration with Emory University
The project is a collaborative effort of the Emory University Physician Assistant Program, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Southwest Georgia Area Health Education Center and community partners in Valdosta and Bainbridge. The team sees farmworkers from countries like Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti and Jamaica.
“We get a fair number of workers who say they have never seen a healthcare provider, or it’s been years,” reports Tom Himelick, director of community projects for Emory’s Physician Assistant Program. The team diagnoses and treats everything from hypertension to headaches, diabetes to respiratory infections, and athlete’s foot to eye problems.
Tom Himelick, Susy Mercado, Rebeca Lee-Pethel, Raquel Sabogal, and Tiffanee Woodard
Tom Himelick, Susy Mercado, Rebeca Lee-Pethel, Raquel Sabogal, and Tiffanee Woodard devote time to the South Georgia Farmworker Health Project.
He says most ailments are minor, but sometimes the South Georgia Farmworker Health Project can save lives. As an example, a student recognized that a young farmworker was having a heart attack and convinced him to go to the hospital, where the event was confirmed.
Interpreter brings health messages
CDC public health analyst Rebeca Lee-Pethel of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, who has volunteered as an interpreter with the project for 10 years, observes, “We have the opportunity to help folks who often have limited or no other access to health care. This is a good place to provide public health messages.
“These folks live with such hardship that it seems so little to give time to help.”
David Ojeda, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education fellow in the Division of Diabetes Translation, agrees. His first summer as a volunteer Spanish interpreter in Valdosta was eye-opening because of the working and living conditions he observed. The experience in June strengthened his desire to help underserved populations, especially in rural areas.
The chance to help improve the lives of individuals also appealed to interpreter Tiffanee Woodard, public health analyst in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. “Furthermore, each act of service will result in some degree of benefit to the entire community,” the CDC volunteer notes. “The South Georgia Farmworker Health Project supports communities in need, provides a model for collaboration, and enhances personal and professional interests. This project will present lifelong rewards to all involved.”
Volunteers reap rewards
Susy Mercado, Gena Gause, and farmworkers
Susy Mercado left and Gena Gause, right second-year Emory physician assistant student, work with farmworkers.
For Raquel Sabogal, an epidemiologist in the Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services and the daughter of two Colombian natives, the rewards include keeping up her Spanish skills while helping farm workers live healthier lives. A South Georgia Farmworker Health Project volunteer since 2000, she has improved her Spanish medical terminology to help the Emory students conduct health exams.
As an incentive to undergo basic medical exams, the migrant workers are offered used clothing. Susy Mercado, audiovisual production specialist in the Division of Creative Services, collected clothing donations from her CDC colleagues this year to take to farmworkers in South Georgia when she interprets for them in Spanish. Mercado, whose mother is Cuban, spent part of her childhood in Peru and is active in the Atlanta Latino community. “I enjoy helping the Latin community. I like helping people find solutions to their problems,” she says.
For more information about the South Georgia Farmworker Health Project.
Other Volunteer Opportunities: United W
CDC In the News - CDC Volunteers Help Farmworkers.
Latino teens happier, healthier if families embrace biculturalism
Parents of adolescents know that it can be challenging to make sure their teens are making healthy choices. Latino parents who have immigrated to the United States face an additional and unique challenge: raising adolescents in a new country and culture.
Latino teens face challenges too. Adolescents who are trying to adjust to life in the U.S. themselves, or who are first-generation U.S. citizens with parents of a different culture, can be at greater risk for health problems and risky behavior associated with acculturation. Acculturation is defined as how much and how quickly a person adjusts to a new
culture.
A study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, shows that Latino adolescents in the U.S. who maintain ties to their culture of origin are
more likely to develop healthy behaviors than their peers who do not. Latino adolescents with strong awareness of their family’s culture reported higher self esteem, fewer social problems and less hopelessness, aggression and substance abuse.
“Teens adjusting to a new culture can encounter stressful situations like racial discrimination,” said CDC scientist Corinne Ferdon. “These situations are associated with adolescents engaging in risky behavior such as youth violence and substance abuse.” The good news is that there are steps you can take as a parent with your teen to overcome these health risks. As a Latino parent who has immigrated to the U.S., you can honor your culture of origin and also weave in parts of the U.S. culture to help your teen adjust and live a healthy, balanced life. Your teen will not have to choose between their heritage and the American culture; you can help them be proud of both.
Here are some steps Latino parents can take to help keep teens stay safe and healthy:
1. Find the balance. Work to help your child understand which parts of the U.S. culture are helpful, and which parts conflict with your personal family values to help adolescents make healthy decisions.
2. Make time for family. Work schedules and a lack of extended family support often make family time difficult. It’s very important that you spend time together as a family during times of cultural adjustment. Take a walk, eat meals
together, or engage in other activities your whole family enjoys.
3. Talk to your children. Talk with your adolescent children as you are getting used to life in the United States, and communicate about making good choices about their health and safety.
4. Listen to your children. When differences of opinion arise, try to listen and be flexible enough to hear what your teen is saying about how things are done in this new culture and about how they may be struggling or thriving.
For more information:
Call 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyYouth/az/
Summer School Gives Esl Students Jump Start
August 15, 2009 by admin
Filed under ESL Classes, ESL News
When Jeannette Sgambellone found out there was money available for Lakewood Schools to hold an ESL summer school session for the first time, she and her fellow district English as a Second Language teachers rallied into action.
Because the district didn’t know for sure that federal Title 1 funds were available for the program until after school let out in June, the teachers had to go the extra mile to notify families of the opportunity.
Read full story via The Lakewood Observer
New York taxi drivers teaching English - new film features top ESL destination
“Tales from America,” the third episode of The Learning English Video Project, has been released for free access on EnglishClub.com. With learners around the world expressing a desire to learn American English, UK filmmaker Daniel Emmerson felt it was important to take his project to New York City, one of the top destinations for ESL learners. Prior to heading to New York, Emmerson expressed his excitement about interviewing students who were willing to travel a long way to “really experience the language in its home setting.” The film is available with and without subtitles, along with online classroom materials, self-study exercises and behind-the-scenes commentary and footage.
In “The Making of the Project” Daniel Emmerson admits that he and his cameraman Joel Carr felt a bit “perplexed as to what [their] role was as filmmakers” as they too were experiencing their first taste of the Big Apple. During their stay in New York, the crew accepted tips from international students on how to get the full New York experience. They stayed in the metropolis near Wall Street and in an African community in Harlem. They also walked Central Park and visited famous sites including Coney Island, Madison Square Garden and the Statue of Liberty. The footage, shot both in and outside the classroom, depicts New York as a city that is optimal for learning English.
While the learners in “Tales from America” describe New York city as “big”, “unbelievable” and even “lonely” at times, Emmerson uses the words “busy”, “vibrant” and “very multicultural”. The film profiles a handful of learners from diverse backgrounds, including students from Argentina, Austria and South Korea. One of the main messages from the film is that learning English is becoming a necessity in many parts of the world. Interviewees agree that whether you are a translator, a computer engineer or a yoga instructor English is an international language that people “need” in today’s job market.
As in previous episodes, Emmerson asks learners to respond to a few key questions. In “Tales from America”, visitors to New York are asked why English is important, what problems learners typically have, and how being in New York helps learners improve. Interviewees are then asked to share tips on how to learn English. In the final sequence, Argentinean engineer, Adrian Petrov, looks retrospectively at his own path and advises learners to get serious about their goals: “What I did in the past was to study English about two hours per week, and it wasn’t enough.”
“Tales from America” and the entire series is sponsored by EnglishClub.com for educational use. The third film runs 17 minutes, contributing to the total series length of 2 hours. The fourth film, “Studies in Spain” will be released next month, and pre-production for filming in China and Brazil is now underway. The many viewers who add their comments for each film are helping to shape future films in the series.
“Tales from America” and classroom materials:
http://www.englishclub.com/esl-videos/tales-from-america
Sagging economy boosts English class enrollment
June 19, 2009 by admin
Filed under ESL Classes, ESL News
The sinking economy has spurred demand for English classes, while at the same time cuts in education budgets have left some of the programs without classrooms, education officials say.
While there has always been a high demand for English classes, recently more students are calling and walking up to registration counters at local community colleges throughout the county, hoping to sign up for one of the hundreds of classes offered during summer sessions, according to education officials.
Read full story via OCRegister.com.
ESL graduates smile… in English
Some 55 adults representing 21 countries and 14 languages graduated from their English as a second language ESL classes on Thursday at the YMCA Adult Learning Center on Plympton Street. Many held back tears as they walked to the front of a cheering classroom to accept certificates of achievement from program coordinator Elaine Dougherty and the four ESL teachers who had instructed them.
Read full story via Woburn Advocate.
TEA gets no help in suit from lawmakers
Lawyers for the Texas Education Agency will step before the federal appeals court in New Orleans today armed with arguments against a ruling that says the state is failing 140,000 students with limited English-speaking skills.
They will not, however, have an armload of bills passed by the 81st Legislature to show that the state is addressing the problems that were highlighted by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice in July.
Read full articel TEA gets no help in suit from lawmakers.
Immgrant Gunman Angry Over English Skills
Binghamton’s mayor and police chief say a man who killed 13 people inside an immigrant community center was depressed after recently losing a job and angry that he couldn’t speak English well.
Police Chief Joseph Zikuski tells NBC’s “Today” show that people “degraded and disrespected” the gunman over his poor English. Mayor Matthew Ryan tells ABC’s “Good Morning America” he was angry about his language issues and his lack of employment.