Anyone here an ESL teacher?

[Flaxbee]

I'm in western NC, a small county that has a growing hispanic population. There's a guy my husband and I regularly see on our walks and he said that the community is getting taken advantage of pretty badly (not surprising considering idiot small town bigots around here and Lou Dobbs frothing at the mouth every night on CNN)... I'm going to try to work with him on some issues, and one of problems is the language barrier. I've never taught English, and don't really want to do it 'officially' but I don't really know where or how to start with language instruction.

Any ideas? Are the ESL guidelines pretty good, or should I just ask what the language issues are and sorta wing it?

And aside from that, are there any good websites that can offer me some guidelines with working with immigrant communities?

My county is becoming more liberal, but there are plenty of uptight, faux-religious, pompous, wealthy jerks around here who are just oblivious to anyone's problems but their own, and their problems consist mostly of where to have dinner ...

[NinetySix]

1. I used to teach ESL

I don't think there's anything wrong with helping someone practise using the language, but unless you undertake to teach grammar and pronunciation in some organized fashion, maybe you just prefer to be an unofficial advisor and advocate for the community.

I also used to work in a Mexican restaurant with a kitchen staff made up entirely of Mexicans who spoke very little English (most or all of them very likely illegal). We had an informal agreement to help each other learn to speak in the opposite language, and it worked out quite well, as I learned a fair little bit of Spanish, which I can still speak today. This could be a way for you to interact with your neighbors.

As an aside, I've rarely met people as kind and genuine as the Mexicans I worked with and made friends with.

[murielm99]

2. Check and see if your community has any literacy volunteers.

I used to work with a group like that. Most of us were from teaching backgrounds, but we received specific training on how to teach ESL. We found out very quickly that immigrants needed much more than the ability to read and speak English.

Our group had to develop a relationship with local social service agencies. We had to learn how to work with the states attorney's office in case people were being defrauded. AND we had to do it without putting the fear of deportation into the minds of many of the people.

I did this in the 1970s. Now, many communities have liaison people in schools and communities who help solve problems within the Hispanic community. My group with associated with Literacy Volunteers of America. Now, many literacy groups are affiliated with community colleges. See what is in your area.