Imagine moving to a foreign land where the language, the food and even the holidays are different. Now imagine changing the life of an international refugee by volunteering just three hours each week. Students involved in the University's English as a Second Language tutoring program manage to change lives without ever leaving the Charlottesville community.
Last semester, Madison House added two programs to its English as a Second Language tutoring program that reaches the lives of many Charlottesville immigrants.
For the first time, ESL tutoring through Albemarle High School became an independent program, bringing together adult immigrants of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds in a classroom setting to learn English. Participants in this program range from those who want simply to brush up on their English to those who are just beginning to learn the language after being forced to flee their country out of necessity.
The second program, run through the national organization named the International Rescue Committee, pairs Madison House volunteers with families to tutor them in English in their homes. The IRC primarily works with refugees, including those who have political asylum.
In IRC, volunteers are assigned to one family from a specific country. If the family is large, volunteers are paired together.
|
Volunteers go to the families' homes and help them them practice conversational English. They are able to get a more focused perspective on a single country, rather than the broader view offered by participation in the Albemarle High School program.
Because the ESL program is run through Madison House, all its volunteers are University students. The main goal of the ESL program is to help participants gain a better understanding of English.
The duties of student volunteers in the IRC program depend on the English fluency level of the family they are assigned to, and often the only English spoken by the families occurs during these weekly sessions.
"The majority of participants in the IRC program are refugees fleeing global 'hot spots,' such as Iran, Afghanistan, the Central African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, and many from the Balkans," said fourth-year College student Anya Gupta, who serves as IRC director. Gupta got her start with the ESL tutoring program through the Albemarle High School division.
"It was fascinating to listen to discussions on issues such as gender equality coming from the viewpoints of so many different cultures," Gupta said.
For fourth-year College student Hans Lelleid, the relationship built goes beyond the weekly sessions.
"My favorite part of the program is the social relations established with the family I work with," said Lelleid, an IRC volunteer. "Sometimes I'll just go over to hang out even when there is no lesson assigned. The other night I went over and cooked dinner for the family, since they've had me over to dinner many times."
Ideally volunteers help their family practice English in everyday situations, attempting to discuss topics from the weather to getting a raise at work.
"I think this program is extremely challenging because some families have no knowledge of English at all," Gupta said. "In a sense, I have a really hard time training volunteers because it is so difficult to teach and help someone who doesn't speak the same language as you."
The IRC itself is a national non-profit organization with Charlottesville as one of its few non-urban branches. Over the past 20 to 30 years, Charlottesville has had a steady rate of employment and fewer crimes relative to urban centers, which has encouraged immigrants to relocate to the area.
Through this collaboration with Madison House, the organization is able to provide immigrant families with the experience and patience of student volunteers.
The other division of the ESL tutoring program, the Albemarle High School program, offers five levels of adult ESL classes. Participants are placed in a specific class based on their English proficiency level.
Each level has a teacher in addition to several University student volunteers. Specific duties of the volunteers vary with the different levels of English proficiency, but the main duty of the volunteers is to assist the teacher and help answer any questions the students might have.
Second-year College student Joy Tongsri directs the Albemarle High School program, and has volunteered since her first semester at the University.
"I personally don't really feel like I am 'tutoring' per se," Tongsri said. "Rather it is just the opportunity for me to get to know some great people, share experiences, talk about culture and customs of countries throughout the world, answer questions about American holidays and slang, and learn about other people and their perspectives."
Fourth-year College student Amy Andrews realized the challenge of adapting to a new culture while studying abroad. Her experience in Spain first got her interested in the program.
"Studying abroad really made me realize the difficulties in trying to learn a foreign language," Andrews said. "By participating in the Albemarle program I am able to help immigrants learn English, just like the native speakers helped me when I was in Spain."
The people the Albemarle High School program serves are mainly adults and are of all different socioeconomic backgrounds. There is also a special room where participants can leave their children when they attend classes.
Some of the students in the Albemarle program are refugees, immigrants and migrant workers. Many students also come from within the University community, including staff or family members of visiting University professors and doctors at the Hospital. Last year there were over 25 different languages represented among the students.
"I have met such amazing and interesting people through volunteering," Tongsri said. "I also feel that we are helping these people help themselves in terms of their jobs, getting accustomed to U.S. life, helping them get around Charlottesville and the resources, events and services offered in the community"
Read More
Breaking my silence
By Cecy Juárez | YesterdayI, Cecy Juárez, am one of the three “squirrels of U.Va.” running the @thesquirrelsofuva page.
Lending a hand during the finals push
By Abby Snowdon | 3 days agoThe race to the end of the year has begun, and University groups have set up pit stops along the course to help students get to the finish line.
The spring fashion trend for you based on your college lifestyle
By Malone Morchower | 4 days agoIn 2024, decades of different styles have come back, culminating in a casual yet exciting fashion.
