Volpe Center: Information Resources

Volpe Journal Winter 2000

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New immigrants learn English at the Volpe Center
Marta, newly arrived from Peru, works every day from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm at the Cambridge City Hospital as a food service employee. Twice a week, she leaves work and takes the #69 bus to Kendall Square where she attends English classes at the Volpe Center. Eight years ago, a group of Volpe Center employees who were interested in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) on a volunteer basis approached the Community Learning Center (CLC), a Cambridge, MA organization dedicated to providing adults with a variety of basic education and employment skills, including ESL for newly arrived immigrants. At that time, CLC had over a two-year waiting list for ESL classes; there was a real need in this area. Thus began a very fruitful and ongoing partnership.

KSLP students and teacher demonstrate a passion for learning.

These Volpe Center employees formed the Kendall Square Learning Project (KSLP), a non-profit charitable 501(c)(3) organization, whose purpose is to provide adults with an opportunity to improve their skills in English and at the same time learn basic life or "bread and butter" skills such as filling out a job application. KSLP became part of the larger Volpe TEAM (Tutoring, Educating, and Mentoring) Effort. They are both in their eighth year.

KSLP volunteers have come from the staff of the entire Volpe Center community. These employees are from the Volpe Center, other Department of Transportation organizations, and on-site contractors. Their occupations range from administrative staff to senior executives. The one thing that they all have in common is a passion for teaching and helping others. Each volunteer approaches his or her assignments with as much diligence and care as they use in their daily jobs. It is not unusual for them to put in two hours of preparation for every hour of class taught.

And who are the students that they teach? They come from all over the world, including such countries as India, China, Russia, Haiti, Guatemala, Peru, Brazil, Japan, and Korea. Their occupations range from service level jobs to such professional positions as chemist, architect, and accountant. What they all have in common is a keen desire to improve their language skills. In some cases, they may barely speak the language; in others, they may be quite fluent but have a real need to understand the subtleties and nuances of the English language. In class, they may receive help filling out a job application, understanding bills, developing a resume, or understanding a performance evaluation. The students, who live in the local area, are referred either by CLC or by other students.

The students are very fortunate that KSLP classes are small, ranging from four to eight students each. Two teachers are assigned to each class so that each teaches only once a week for an hour and a half. Four levels of classes are offered ranging from little or no English at Level 1 to advanced conversation and grammar at Level 4. The small size of the classes ensures that each student receives a great deal of individual attention.

Olive Lesueur, an operations research analyst at the Center and one of the founders of KSLP, begins her class on Tuesday night by talking about the previous weekend. "So what did we all do this weekend? I'll start," she says. "Well, I went shopping. You know how I love to shop!" The four classmates laugh. Everyone takes a turn - a little conversation to break the ice. Olive's day is a long one, but at 6:30 pm it begins anew. The class hums with energy.

"It's a joy to teach

people who love to learn.

Sure, their language

abilities are totally

different, with everyone

at a different proficiency

level, but somehow

it all works."

Olive's class is advanced so students have a greater facility with the language. This group has mastered the basics of grammar and verb tenses and is ready for more reading comprehension. Olive shows them how to keep taking the next steps.

As a fun way to learn pronunciation, enunciation, grammar, and to improve listening skills, she brings out a book of tongue twisters. Listen: "Someone sold Stella super striped sneakers. Stella stood. Stella slipped..." Olive turns to the blackboard for a minute. "I'm hearing something," she says. "I'm hearing this word." She writes stripped. "But what I need to hear is this word." She writes striped. "These two words may look similar but they sound and mean completely different things."

Also in the class that night is Olive's boss, Ed Herger, a division chief at the Center. Olive has persuaded Ed to volunteer to teach next semester. In this setting, Olive is now the boss as she teaches Ed the fine points of teaching English to others. Ed will also receive training from the CLC prior to becoming an ESL teacher.

Barbara King, a technical specialist for one of the on-site contractors, teaches a level 2 class with Cathryn Oliva-Simmons, an office automation specialist at the Center, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Her class is busy learning the present and the present progressive tenses and has just discussed idioms. All the students in the class are from Brazil. According to Barbara, this is unusual. "Sometimes you have the whole world in your classroom," and adds, "it's a joy to teach people who love to learn. Sure, their language abilities are totally different, with everyone at a different proficiency level, but somehow it all works."

And it continues to work. KSLP has helped hundreds of students improve their opportunities for better jobs and to more fully integrate themselves into American society. Started by a small group of employees from the Volpe Center community eight years ago, KSLP exemplifies the best in volunteerism and the Volpe Center's commitment to the Cambridge community.

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