Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The art of conversation

I hope you will read this whole story (click on the newspaper link) for terrific examples of how these people practice English for everyday use. DP

Club offers practice for English language learners
By Adam Breen

pinnaclenews.com: Their reasons for wanting to learn English are different, but they are also the same. Laura Soto wants to be able to ask questions of her children's doctor; Kayoko Jorgenson wants to help her children with their schoolwork; Balvina Diaz wants to improve her confidence.

These women, all immigrants and Hollister residents, are part of the year-old Conversation Club at the San Benito County Free Library on Fifth Street. Each Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m., the library's Family Learning Center coordinator, Carlos Munoz, facilitates a discussion among whomever shows up to the Barbara Memorial Room. While cannery season has taken some regulars away from the sessions, Munoz said between two and 10 people take advantage of the free classes.

Last week, as Munoz greeted the four participants when they settled in at a table in the meeting room, Soto, a native of Aguas Calientes, Mexico, pulled out an electronic English/Spanish translation device and began reviewing that day's discussion sheet; a handout on "Adverbs with two forms" from UsingEnglish.com.

The worksheet instructed students to read 18 sentence fragments and select the correct adverb to complete the sentence. Question No. 1 began "He works..." with the options being "hardly" or "hard."
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

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