Hogar Immigrant Services E-nunciations

Volunteer Spotlight

For the past few months, one day a week, the Legal Team has had the pleasure of hosting volunteer Jordis Krueger, an experienced legal secretary. Originally from New York, Jordis has lived in Virginia for many years and worked as a legal secretary at various law offices between 1969 and 2006. Here at Hogar Jordis has been helping the Legal Team keep on top of our voluminous files, writing cover letters for immigration applications, and generally lending a hand wherever needed. We have certainly benefited from Jordis’ skills and experience as a legal secretary and are happy to have her.

In her free time Jordis reports that she is an avid reader of history, particularly the history of World War II, the Civil War, Irish history, and the history of the Catholic Church. Jordis also enjoys pen and ink drawing. She is excited that her son, who is in the Armed Forces and recently returned from Iraq, will soon be transferring from a base in Georgia to nearby Fort Meade.

Jordis reports that she likes “everything!” about volunteering at Hogar, especially the freedom to do work at her own pace and the “nice people.” Jordis is a graduate of the Krissler Business Institute in Poughkeepsie, New York.

October's Vignette

Juan

Imagine waking up before the sun comes up to work all day, then getting on a bus, rain or shine, to travel over an hour to evening classes. Then you spend one and a half to two hours doing recitations and memorization with a tutor, followed by another hour in a class with other students. After class you jump on the bus again, finally getting home long after the sun has gone down. Imagine doing this 5-6 days a week.

This is exactly what Juan Centano of Reston does. Originally from El Salvador, Juan is one of our citizenship students who has inspired us all with his story and dedication.

In El Salvador, Juan worked on his family’s farm that was the main food source for this large clan, including Juan’s five brothers and three sisters. At the age of 23 he emigrated to the U.S. to escape the brutal civil war raging in El Salvador and joined his siblings in California. After speaking with his brother about job prospects in Virginia, Juan made the trek out east and settled in Reston.

Juan has been a Citizenship student at Hogar since April of 2010 when he learned about the class at one of Hogar’s naturalization workshops. He admits that when he first started he never thought that he would learn to read or write. Even doing so in his native Spanish was a difficult task, let alone learning to do so in English.

“I now read better than my brother,” Juan proudly proclaims, referring to his older brother who, unlike Juan, learned to read and write as a child. It is Juan’s impossibly strong work ethic along with his constant positive attitude that has made this possible. That and the dedication of his teachers. A core group of 6 volunteers has been working one-on-one with Juan, 6 days a week for the past several months.

Juan’s positive attitude comes through in every situation and is infectious. Even when describing his first failed attempt at the USCIS naturalization interview, he puts a positive spin on it by describing his interviewer as a very nice woman who made him feel comfortable throughout the interview. It turns out Juan passed three out of the four sections of the exam, only failing the writing section. A remarkable feat given that one of the sections he passed was reading, despite not being able to write in either English or Spanish when first coming to Hogar. Juan is allowed one chance to retake the section of the exam that he did not pass the first time. A second failure would require Juan to reapply and begin the naturalization process all over again from the start. Rather than discouraging him, Juan's near-miss on the first exam has elevated his studying to a new level.

After long hours working, taking the bus from Reston to Falls Church, doing hours of recitation, studying flashcards at home, writing and reading the same sentences time and time again, Juan is not deterred. Surely, however, there must be parts of all this studying that frustrates him? I ask Juan what his least favorite part of studying is. “Nothing,” he says. “I like everything, because I know I am doing it to reach my dream.”

Juan is proud to tell you that he has been paying taxes in this country for over 21 years, that he calls the USA home and that he has no intention of returning to El Salvador. When asked about his “American dream,” he mentions nothing more than gaining his U.S. citizenship to complete the happiness he has already found in this country. He also wants for his son, a high school student in El Salvador, to join him here. A dream that is refreshing in its simplicity in a time when many people long for a never ending list of more grandiose items.

The next time you are stuck in traffic or behind a bus and getting down about your commute and busy schedule, I want you to remember who might be on that bus. Remember Juan and the hundreds of other similar stories across the country. Think of the volunteers that give unselfishly of themselves. With a list longer than most of things he could moan about, he does not have one single complaint, just an amazing drive to reach his modest dream and accomplish things he once thought impossible.

Juan is waiting to receive the date of his next naturalization exam, and we wish him the best of luck in his final preparations.

Happenings and Special Events

BB&T Employees Visit Hogar and Hold Conversation Hour with Hogar’s Students!

On September 29, 2010, a group of BB&T employees visited Hogar and helped our students with English conversation skills after classes. Each BB&T employee was paired with one or two ESL students who expressed interest in staying after class to receive extra conversational practice and tutoring in English. The students and BB&T employees started out with an ice-breaker activity to get to know one another and get everyone up and moving around the classroom. They met in the new classroom space recently acquired by Hogar, as a means of fulfilling unmet demand for ESL classes.

BB&T Bank previously provided a very generous donation to help furnish this new space so that the new classrooms were ready for instruction on the first day of class. Fernanda Howard, Senior Vice President of BB&T and Hogar’s liaison to the CCDA Board of Directors, arranged the visit, in conjunction with the BB&T Lighthouse Project. The purpose of the visit was for BB&T employees to come out and meet Hogar’s students, learn about our programs, and see firsthand how classes were being held in the newly-acquired space.

BB&T’s visit turned out to be a great success, with students and BB&T employees conversing together and getting to know one another in a very lively and fun environment. We subsequently received very positive feedback from the students who participated. Thank you so much to Fernanda and all the BB&T employees for their time and dedication to Hogar and our programs! We would not have been able to furnish the new space at Hogar, and serve even more students as a result, without you!

Teacher Tip

What: If you missed the October 23 Games training here are a few interactive game and activity ideas that you can utilize in your ESL classroom.

Why: Many of our students come to class after a long day of work. Their energy is ebbing and their focus may be on the many other things that they have going on in their lives. When students come in to class and sit down to begin a writing or reading exercise we notice their shoulders slumping, their eyes glazing over, and occasionally a few sighs of frustration escape. Beginning the class with an interactive activity can be a great warm-up to get the blood-flowing, energy up, and to focus the mind. It can also be a great way to relieve stress. Though studying English is hard, for many students coming to class is a unique opportunity to express themselves, to find themselves in community with peers and to make social connections.

Games to help students get to know one another:

Human Scavenger Hunt: Students have the task of surveying classmates in order to get the signatures of people who can answer yes to the questions on their worksheet. For example: Can you speak more than 2 languages? Can you run more than a mile? The first one to fill up their sheet wins a prize.

Conversation corner with timer: Set up a few stations in the classroom, each one with an assigned topic to discuss. Students get a designated time in which they are to discuss their topic, when the time runs out, they rotate to the next station until everyone has visited all the stations.

4 corners: This can be done a few ways. You can choose categories, for example, movies and have students go to different corners depending on what they prefer. I.E. those who like horror go to one corner, those who like romantic comedies go to another. This can be used as a way to help students mingle and they can then sit at desks and tables according to their groups. Alternatively, you choose 3 current topics or issues and 3 or 4 different possible opinions on each one. Students must go to corners that represent their opinion. Then students must explain to the others in their group why they chose the opinion they did.

Surveys and information charts: This is a good way to get students moving and talking to each other. Yes/ no questions and two choice questions are good for beginner classes and more complex questions can be used for intermediate and advanced classes. The questions can also be designed in a way to introduce students to a new topic by surveying their classmates about it.

Games to get people moving and engaged:

Sentence dictation: Post multiple copies of a short poem, news story or other writing in various locations around the room. Divide students into pairs and designate which copy of the article the pair must go read. One person from each pair then goes and silently reads the first sentence of the posted article, returns to partner and dictates as much as they can remember. This student may have to make multiple trips to complete dictation. When first sentence is complete, students trade roles. Alternate until finished or time up. Can vary difficulty and length of item being read to make different challenges.

Telephone vocabulary review: Good for an energetic review of vocabulary. Form 2 teams (or more if needed). First person in each team is the “writer” and stands near a whiteboard or chalkboard. The rest of the team stands in line behind the “writer.” Teacher whispers a vocabulary word to the last person in each line. Students pass the word up to the “writer” who writes the word on the board. Team members can help with spelling. “Writer” rotates to the end of the line.

Picture story writing: A reading and writing activity that is best for intermediate and above level students. Place various magazine pictures throughout the room, as many pictures as there are students. Put a piece of notebook paper by each picture. Students rotate to each picture and write a sentence to form a story. This exercise requires a quick review of their classmates writing and the ability to swiftly formulate a sentence to continue the story.