Library ESL Lunch Welcomes 32 Nations to Ridgewood

Several residents representing 32 different countries stopped by the library yesterday afternoon to chat.

Hosting its annual English as a Second Language Center International Luncheon yesterday, the Ridgewood Public Library welcomed students and honored its 34 volunteer tutors at the Belcher Auditorium.

"We do something that no one else in Ridgewood does," said ESL program coordinator Jill Wright. "We primarily teach spoken English to our students."

With 143 adult students natively speaking Japanese, Russian, French, Spanish and many other tongues, the library's program allows for nonnative English speakers a chance to connect culturally and linguistically with their new home.

"They're comfortable with the textbook, but when they come here and things are strange, the English does not stick with them," she said.

Working parallel with the school, the library's ESL program is divided into three proficiency levels. At the beginner stage, teachers interact on an one-to-one basis, whereas class sizes grow from four to six students as their skill levels progress.

"It's good for them to have more people [as they become more comfortable]. Proficiency increases as more voices are introduced," she said.

ESL teachers don't possess backgrounds in the languages of their students, but Wright said they are vigorously trained and given lots of support through the year. Many are retired teachers, and often—Wright counted 23 this year—the tutors return to teach.

Michelle Tucker just finished her second year in the program after retiring from teaching elementary school. She used her sense of humor to break the language barrier and described both years as "great."

"My role is to welcome them to their new country, new society," Tucker said. "I'm trying to help them adapt to our culture... We tried to laugh a lot."

The program doesn't try to remove their native cultures—Wright said accent lessening isn't an aspect—but instead empowers students to excel. Wright said many students grow nearly fluent and often take real estate or nursing examinations entirely in English.

Sreeja Sarojini was a student for three years. Now she's working on a biochemistry degree from New York University. 

"I had problems with speech at first and was very shy," said Sarojini, originally from India. "It was difficult, but I survived. I made a lot of friends with tutors and [classmates]."

Sarojini sat with Ikuko Hayakawa and Yeo Kim—native Japanese and Korean speakers, respectively—two friends she made in the program.

Hayakawa said she's so happy to have Indian and Korean friends, "We can study American culture together—even if it's hard."

Kim said her teachers made her feel at ease.

"I needed someone to have a good relationship with, and we didn't feel uncomfortable at all," she said.

The luncheon itself was a culmination of the year's successes and the program's growth. Since Wright and co-coordinator Jayne Martinsen took over in 2005, the program has grown from 50 to 143 students. A Ridgewood resident, Wright has seen the increases over the years. 

"I'm from here and this [program] did not exist, because the need did not exist. Ridgewood has changed a lot in the last 25 years," Wright said.

The ESL program has a summer session, but Wright said less people participate as adult students generally spend time with their families when school is out.

For next year's session, the library is looking for volunteers. For application information, visit the library's website.