Sunday, February 22, 2009

Learning English no ‘nun’sense

Sister Petrick, a third grade teacher, also volunteers with the Literacy Council to teach immigrants English. DP

By STACY TAFF, The Delphos Herald

DELPHOS — One big issue in our country today is the rising number of immigrants entering our borders, many of whom can’t speak English.

Due to this, more schools and colleges are asking their students to learn foreign languages to accommodate these new citizens, leaving Americans wondering why the newcomers don’t learn English instead.

Sister Tina Petrick, a third-grade teacher at St. John’s in Delphos, works toward this goal by volunteering with the Literacy Council to teach English as a second language.

“When I taught English in Toledo, half of my class was Hispanic and I realized this was something that would happen more and more in the future,” she said. “Since there aren’t many opportunities to teach immigrants in this area, I decided to get involved with the Literacy Council. I’ve been able to practice teaching English to people who know one or maybe two languages but have never spoken English. The council has given me more of an opportunity to get involved.”
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.

No comments: