English Language Learners

I wasn't quite sure how to react when I received my daily substitute schedule. I had three sections of English Language Learners (ELL). I speak English, that's it. I can ask where a bathroom is in Spanish, and can count poorly in French, but after that, I'm clueless. Knowing that I would more than likely have mostly Polish, Lithuanian, and Arabic speaking students, I thought for sure it was going to be an interesting day.

One of the classes only had six students in it, and they were typing personal narratives on a great challenge in their lives. I admit, I was grateful that there was not a lot of interaction on my part, because some of the students had such thick accents and were struggling to find the correct words to tell me something. They were such nice kids, but you could feel the frustration growing when we struggled to communicate. I felt horrible and did my best, but it was really hard. I can only imagine how they feel. They turned in their narratives, and five out of the six students wrote about how difficult school was because of language barriers. Granted, the grammar was horrible, and I had to really think about what they were trying to say, but they were written fromt eh heart. They are trying to take academic courses in government, but when the teacher speaks, they don't know many of the words, and when they read, they still don't understand. I felt for these kids and their frustrations.

My other two courses were a level higher and they were working on grammar packets. Only around ten students, but between them, they spoke five languages, and little English. The thing that amazed me most was their desire to learn. They had packets which would ask them to circle the correct verb. If they guessed wrong, and I told them, the "Why?" questions kept coming out. In all honesty, as an English teacher, I was baffled. They wanted to know why some words were spelled certain ways, and why vowels sounded the way they do. Simply to me, because it is English. and that's how it is. For them, it wasn't enough. Everything needs a reason in order to make sense. I get that now, but it was really hard to explain every little detail to teenagers.

These kids were amazing. They kept pushing for more knowledge, and were so excited when they got a word right, or learned a new word. I don't recall any of the foreign language courses having students so excited over learning French, Spanish, or German. For these kids, it was a matter of survival in America. They wanted to fit in while in high school, and get jobs, and learn things, but without knowing the language, it was really tough. I admire their resilience and determination and wish it would flow into the rest of the school!