Mom's Learning Too!

Ana Paniagua from El Salvador joined our ESL classes in September 2007. She has one daughter, Yosselyn, who is in one of CFNC's preschool classes. Anna tested as a beginning ESL Literacy student when she started ESL. That means that she could only understand a few isolated words, and extremely simple learned phrases. Her vocabulary was limited to a few isolated words and she had no control of grammar.

Anna has been coming to the ESL classes regularly after she drops her daughter off in the morning. She has gradually become more comfortable in English. She has started helping other students in the class. She has told me how she uses learned vocabulary with her daughter. She reads the books she has read in class with her. She sings nursery rhymes with her and she volunteers in her daughter’s class.

She volunteered to read an English children’s book in her daughter’s class. She had received the book through the Reading Connection which had given a reading workshop in our ESL class. She had learned how to use rhyming words when reading to a child. She did exactly that when she read the book in her daughter’s class. She also acted the story out and she asked the preschoolers questions. The children loved it and her daughter was beaming with pride (they are both pictured above).

After 60 hours of ESL instruction she took a post ESL test. She became a High Intermediate ESL which means that she can now understand simple learned phrases easily, and can participate in basic conversations in a few very routine social situations. She has now some control of basic grammar.

By Eugenie Ballering, ESL Instructor