Drew Davis, Reporter
@ddaviscourant
Photo taken by Evie Jensen
On Saturday mornings mentors use whiteboards and flashcards to break down the language barrier with their students. Through English lessons and focused seminars the mentors work to facilitate the immigrants assimilation into a society where English is the dominant language. Since moving to the United States, the students and their families seek help from teenaged volunteers through Neighbors Link, a program in Stamford, CT.
One such mentor is senior Emma Patch. “Neighbors Link’s mission is to support the assimilation of immigrants into American communities,” Emma said. “They do this through ESL (English as a second language) classes and citizenship classes which are focused on history and largely taught for students who already have sufficient English speaking capabilities.”
Neighbors Link also offers a variety of other courses and seminars with a wide range of focusses. “One of the unique
Photo by Evie Jensen
courses offered is sewing if you want to develop skills to run your own business,” Emma said. “There are computer classes as well.”
One of Neighbor Link’s goals is to help their students find jobs. “Their three main targets are to employ, empower and educate the students,” Emma said. “If you look around the center, you can see job postings to hire workers.”
In order to accept one of these job offers, students must meet the necessary criteria. “Neighbors Link is the liaison between people who need the workers and the workers themselves,” Emma said. “You will see a list with criteria on the job postings, such as ‘be able to drive legally’, so a lot of the time the license seminar is very popular.”
Senior Veronica Ma is also a regular mentor at Neighbors Link. “I heard about this program when a hispanic lawyer came to the high school and asked us if there was anyone who wanted to help out,” Veronica said. “I have been taking Spanish all four years of high school and I figured joining this program would be a good opportunity for me to improve my Spanish. Over the summer I went twice a week for one or two hours and focused on talking to the students in Spanish, mainly because many of them do not have basic English skills.”
While Spanish can be spoken with beginners, it is also important to give students as much exposure to English as possible. “With the more advanced students, I find that it is vital to use English because chances are they don’t get exposed to English in their daily lives,” Emma said. “You are their exposure and you need to use it as much as you can.”
Photo by Evie Jensen
Like Veronica, Emma started volunteering over the summer and inspired junior Mary Wise to help out too. “We started talking about how we both love to speak Spanish and learn about the culture, and a day later she introduced me to the program and I started going with her to Neighbors Link,” Mary said.
Throughout June, Mary accompanied Emma on Monday and Wednesday nights to Neighbors Link. “Typically you volunteer for an hour and a half and see the people who need ESL help,” Mary said. “Then you work with one of them or a group, and teach them. Normally you pick a topic they asked for help with.”
Mary finds that one of the difficulties she faces is the language barrier with the students. “It can be frustrating when you cannot tell if they understand what you have taught them, even if you ask ‘¿Entiendes?’” Mary said.
Despite the occasional frustrations, the volunteers enjoy their work. “It is actually really fun to teach people how to do something,” Mary said. “You feel really good after you do it, especially if the people you have helped are appreciative.”
Mary also finds the students’ eagerness to learn inspiring. “It is nice to see their passion for learning English,” Mary
Photo by Evie Jensen
said. “They really want to learn; you can see it on their faces, you can see it in the way they take notes and in they way they ask questions.”
Emma also notes how valuable Neighbors Link is to the lives of the students. “They love that you take time out of your day to help them because they have been told ‘no’ so many times in their life and face discrimination,” Emma said.
The students are not the only ones who benefit from Neighbors Link’s programs. “The first day I went, I fell in love with the people I worked with,” Emma said. “Although you’re there to help them I found that it’s really a two way street; I am helping them but they are also helping me to understand my community and the world in a larger perspective.”
