Adult literacy volunteers serve eager pupils

October 13, 3:43 PMChicago Volunteer Opportunities ExaminerJanet Barrett

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If you enjoy reading and language, be a tutor.

      If you think that it is easy to learn a second language as an adult, try learning a few words in Italian, German, French, Spanish or Pashto.  It will give you an idea of what adults from other lands go through to learn English.  A large part of learning another language is having the chance to speak it and not fall back on your native tongue.
     When Maria came to the United States from Mexico, she could barely speak or recognize any English.  However, in a few months of self-study she was on her way to complete understanding, and another few years later she was writing her memoirs.
     The realization that she had to do something came in her first days here when she was hungry, but didn't have much money or a means to eat.  She went into a convenience store and chose a can of something by recognizing the word "tuna."  She brought it home thinking it'd hold her for a few days, and made a sandwich.  While she was making it she noticed there was a picture of a cat on the can.  "It tasted kind of funny," she said.  She shrugged and kept eating, being that hungry.  A visitor to her home started laughing when she saw the can and explained to Maria that she had eaten cat food. 
     Maria was humiliated, but more so, determined to conquer her language barrier.  A priest she met at the store helped her by giving her 10 words to learn in English.  The next day he gave her 20 words.  She went home and studied, listened to the radio and watched T.V. in English.  "I read, read, read," she said.  " I studied the alphabet and by December I was fully conversant."  She was soon reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  Her tricks to learning so quickly, besides her great desire to do so, include studying people's mouths as they talk to her to memorize the pronunciation, and taking an English word and matching it up with the Spanish word, to compare pronunciation and spelling.  She immersed herself in the English language.
     Today Maria is a cook at a school in the city.  She and her son are volunteer tutors with the Sisters of St. Joseph School on Wheels.  They have completed the training classes to become literacy volunteers to tutor adults who need help learning or honing their skills at using the English language. Tutors spend one hour a week with their student at one of the seven different locations around the near western suburbs to which the bus travels.   
     Students that go to the trouble of coming to the bus and other locations to learn English are eager to learn.  They're not asked to move at such a fast pace as Maria set for herself.  Instead the tutor lets the student determine his or her goals, helps assess their level, and provides materials and interaction to help facilitate learning, from basic living skills to helping prepare for G.E.D. and citizenship tests.  According to the trainers, it typically takes two-and-a-half years to learn English as a Second Language and five to seven years to become truly literate.  For some without much prior schooling in their native country, it can take up to 10 years.  A large part of the learning process involves giving the person a boost of confidence.
     Literacy tutoring around the Chicago area includes many resources besides the tutoring of English as a Second Language for any native language speaker.  There are conversation groups that meet to practice speaking English, free computer classes in English and Spanish, and websites to assist teachers and students in teaching and learning English as a Second Language. 
     Another volunteer training session is set for February at the Sisters of St. Joseph School on Wheels, led by ESL teaching veterans Debbie Bradt and Kathy Haas.   They have a fully stocked bus of materials, including 10 learning stations.  The program was founded in 1993 by Sr. Marybeth McDermott, who has had 50 years of teaching experience. Noticing the increasing number of immigrants to the western suburbs she purchased an old book mobile and the bus was on its way.
     To find volunteer tutor training opportunities in your area check out ProLiteracy, formerly known as Literacy Volunteers of America.   There are tutor training classes scheduled regularly throughout the year and some starting up in November.  You don't have to be a teacher and you don't have to know another language.  You just have to want to help (it is fun, too).
     As part of the Illinois Literacy Foundation's fall donation program, shoppers at Borders in La Grange can add $1 or more to their purchase to benefit the School on Wheels, through Nov. 1st.