Spanish-English course aims to improve communication in construction industry

This is an industry where this is definitely needed. On the job accidents are more common for workers who don't understand the instructions. DP

By CONNING CHU

jsonline.com: Waukesha - Responding to a surge of monolingual Latino immigrants in the work force, a new Spanish-English learning program is building a bridge over the language barriers of construction work.

The 12-hour, three-week basic language learning course is the result of a partnership among La Casa de Esperanza, the Metropolitan Builders Association and Waukesha County Technical College to teach those in the construction industry to communicate with Spanish- or English-only speaking co-workers.

"Latinos are sweeping the nation in construction jobs," said Hortensia Washington, director of operations at La Casa de Esperanza and instructor for the new language course. "This is about us respecting everyone no matter how limited their English is and cutting out the middle person."

She said the program, named after Waukesha County builder Bryce Styza, aims to teach supervisors, workers and contractors basic Spanish and English terms and phrases used in construction work to improve safety and work efficiency in the field.

A group of 18 English-speaking builders completed the first session last month.

"Many times you go to a job site, and you don't know if everything you are trying to communicate is going through," said Dave Montguire, a builder for James Craig Builders in Waukesha and participant in the first session.
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