Juan Castillo teaches immigrants who speak obscure languages how to make it in New York

These immigrants from Mexico don't speak Spanish or English, this class is helping them thrive in NYC. - - Donna Poisl

By Amy Lieberman

All of Juan Castillo's adult students have had little or no formal education. But that isn't always the main impediment to them tackling their classes, taught in Spanish or English.

It's the fact that they don't speak either of these languages.

Many of Mr. Castillo's approximately 400-plus students do come from Latin America – Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Ecuador. But they are from indigenous communities where idiomas de la tierra, local native languages, are spoken.
Click on the headline above to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.