This summer class is to teach teachers the best way to help their students learn English, not just for conversation, but the best way to study in English. DP
ND launches Teachers of English as a New Language program.
MARGARET FOSMOE, Tribune Staff Writer
Southbendtribune.com: SOUTH BEND -- About 70 percent of Elizabeth Drake's students are from Spanish-speaking families, some of them newly arrived from Mexico.
For many of the children, learning how to speak and study in English is a new experience.
And teaching to children who are just learning English is a challenge, too, said Drake, a 25-year-old middle-school language arts and reading teacher at St. Adalbert's School, a Catholic school on South Bend's west side.
There's a difference between knowing English conversationally and academically, Drake said. "Most (students) don't have the academic language," she said.
Drake is one of 13 teachers enrolled this summer in the Alliance for Catholic Education's Teachers of English as a New Language program at the University Notre Dame.
It's designed to help teachers learn the most effective ways of teaching to students who don't speak English as their primary language.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
This country was built by immigrants, it will continue to attract and need immigrants. Some people think there are enough people here now -- people have been saying this since the 1700s and it still is not true. They are needed to make up for our aging population and low birthrate. Immigrants often are entrepreneurs, creating jobs. We must help them become Americans and not just people who live here and think of themselves as visitors. When immigrants succeed here, the whole country benefits.
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A friend of mine who recently moved to England has been attempting to learn English and she is finding it quite difficult, she already speaks 2 languages (French and Spanish) and claims English is the hardest to learn. With all our silent letters and words with multiple meanings English is tough to understand. Inspired by my friend I decided to learn French as second language to help better myself!
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