8:07 PM, Oct. 1, 2011 |
Boutaina Lahlou, 26, of Westland, is learning to read and write English in anticipation of becoming a U.S. citizen. / KATHLEEN GALLIGAN/Detroit Free Press
BY LORI HIGGINS
Although Boutaina Lahlou spoke little English when she moved to the U.S. from Morocco five years ago, she could read it perfectly. There was just one problem: “I didn’t understand anything I was reading,” says Lahlou, 26, of Westland.
Visits to doctors’ offices, where she would be given a pile of paperwork to fill out, were an exercise in frustration.
“It was difficult,” says Lahlou, who credits learning French while growing up for her ability to read English phonetically.
It wasn’t until she enrolled in language classes at the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) in Dearborn that she was able to understand what she was reading. Before that, she relied on dictionaries to help her translate.
The English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at ACCESS have been a crucial for Lahlou. Without becoming literate, “I’m not able to speak with people and understand,” she says.
She was one of 110 adults who took the ESL classes at ACCESS during the 2010-11 academic year. The classes are among many services the Dearborn agency provides at multiple locations.
Students come with varying skill levels. The most difficult to teach, lead ESL instructor Louise Ramsay says, are those from poor countries who aren’t literate in their native language. Students are placed in classes that last the equivalent of a school semester, based on their level. Many are parents with kids in school, and special attention is paid to helping them be more involved in their children’s academic lives.
The goal for all the students is to become more independent.
“We’re teaching them to navigate systems that will help them be more self-sufficient, productive, more involved,” says Anisa Sahoubah, the center’s youth and education director, who calls Reading Works crucial to maintaining and growing the program in the face of federal funding cuts.
So in addition to learning to speak and read English, the students go on field trips to libraries, museums and local colleges. It was through ACCESS that Lahlou learned about a five-month program that trains students to become dental assistants. She’s now taking those classes.
Ashwaq Fadah, Lahlou’s instructor, says teachers frequently talk to students about going to college and other ways they can improve their lives.
“We try to encourage them the best we can to take a step forward,” she says.
Lahlou says the teachers have helped her build her confidence and overcome her shyness in speaking English.
“Before, if someone called me, I would say ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t speak English.’ I was so shy. At school, they make me speak.”
