Haitian seniors learn English in Stamford class

These Haitian seniors, many here 25 years, are learning English, finally. Now they will be able to talk with their grandchildren. Many are illiterate in their own language, so this is a big hurdle to overcome. DP

By Magdalene Perez, Staff Writer

STAMFORD -- Twenty-six years after leaving Haiti to start a new life in the United States, L'Icianie Icart had her American citizenship, but she didn't have something else important to a grandmother of 78 years: the ability to communicate with her English-speaking grandchildren.

Now, Icart and other local Haitian-American seniors have an opportunity to take their first steps toward becoming English speakers. Through a $5,000 state grant and a partnership with the Haitian American Community Center, the Stamford Senior Center is providing English classes for Haitians age 50 years and older.

According to experts, teaching older Haitian immigrants English is a unique challenge. Many Haitian adults are illiterate in their native languages, French and Creole. Just 52.9 percent of the country's population age 15 and older can read and write, according to the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook.

Senior Center class leaders will need to be aware of that and other cultural sensitivities when crafting a successful English course.

"I told them from the beginning, 'Don't be ashamed,' " instructor Mina Philippe said. "I taught my own mother to read. They're not the only ones."

The class of about 16 students meets Monday nights in the community center's basement on Hope Street. Instead of books or blackboards, the group uses visual cues and rote memorization to learn vocabulary. About 85 percent of the class is unable to read or write, Philippe said.

This week, Icart and classmates studied numbers, colors and dates. Together they watched a video in which two actors illustrated various concepts: wet, dry, rich, poor. Icart and her companions practiced the phrases out loud.

"Today is February 9, 2009," the group repeated, with just the slightest hint of a French accent.

For the Stamford Senior Center, the small class is the culmination of years of unsuccessful attempts to organize an English-language program for Haitian seniors, said Jeanne Franklin, the center's executive director. While language programs for Russian- and Spanish-speakers flourished, efforts aimed at the Haitian community always seemed to fall flat.

"We'd never get 10 people in the past," Franklin said. "We'd get two, we'd get three, and then the next week they wouldn't show up."

Last year, when a state grant became available, Franklin decided to take another tack. She called the Haitian Community Center and enlisted the help of Father Rony Philippe. Maybe what was missing was a closer connection to the community, she thought.

The suspicion was dead-on. Father Philippe and other Haitian Community Center members told their church about the class every Sunday.
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