CSUS Students Feel Transformed As They Help Immigrant Parents Learn English

These adult college students are teaching English to immigrant parents, while not knowing Spanish. And they are succeeding. DP

By Blair Anthony Robertson, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

redorbit.com: Every Saturday morning for the past month, behind closed doors and without fanfare, nine college students go about making their world a better place -- one new word, one flipped flash card, one pat on the back at a time.

The students, all vocational education majors at California State University, Sacramento, provide tutoring services for immigrant parents with limited English skills so the parents can be more involved in their children's schoolwork.

By all accounts, the parents and Sacramento State students have been transformed by the experience.

"Every time we leave here, it's like, 'Wow,' " said Robert Greene, a senior. "Three weeks ago, I'd never done anything like this."

Though it's part of the college curriculum, the sessions have taken on added significance and personal meaning for the students, who are older than traditional college age and enrolled at Sacramento State with years of workplace experience already in hand. Several have pledged to continue tutoring even after the official classes are finished.

"Most of the parents don't speak English, so if they get a letter from school about their child, they don't know what's going on," said Corinna Martinez, a student who works as a project manager for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

By teaching basic English, the college students realize they are making an immediate difference. One parent with limited English, for instance, has nearly mastered a list of the 500 most common English words, missing the meaning of just nine. Another woman arrived at the latest tutoring session with a framed copy of her GED diploma.

"You get a connection right away," said senior Mellissa Truitt. "When you see how important it is for them to learn, you take it personally and you want to make an impact."

Many of the school-age children speak better English than their parents. That is the case with 6-year-old Karina, who watched over the shoulder of her mother, Maria Deluna, as Sacramento State student Leslie Morrill went over a page of pictures and words. Deluna is a native Spanish speaker, like the other parents in these sessions.
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