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ESOL Students Share Few Words About Literacy

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KLINT LOWRY, SUNCOAST NEWS STAFF

Published: December 29, 2007

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - For most of us, being able to speak, read and write English is something we use countless times every day, never really stopping to think how difficult navigating through life would be without these basic language skills.

Noemy Mericle and Iris Segura Garcia don't take it for granted. They worked hard to attain that ability in this country as students in the English for Speakers of Other Languages program at St. Petersburg College.

And now they wish to speak to and for others as literacy advocates.

On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, Mericle and Garcia attended the Florida Literacy Ambassador Program in Crystal River. The program is offered by the Florida Adult Literacy Resource Center, in association with the Florida Literacy Coalition.

The program trains adult learners to share their success stories. The program's goals are inspiring others to improve their literacy skills and raising community awareness and financial support for literacy programs.

"I thought it was a good experience because we learned how to make speeches, and that is a way to get money to continue this program and other programs so people can learn," Garcia said.

During the two-day event, participants learned the basics of effective public speaking, of developing and making presentations and giving media interviews.

The two-day workshop culminated with each of the ambassadors giving a speech about their personal experiences.

In sharing these stories, ambassadors also gained some perspective; that while their personal stories may be unique, the feelings of isolation, alienation and frustration they'd known is something they have in common, and there are more people out there feeling these things now.

Mericle and Garcia's ESOL instructor, Camille Lackey, invited them to take part in the program because of their in-class achievements and the motivations that drove them.

"I chose Iris because of the incredible progress she made in a year," Lackey said.

Garcia, 22, came to the United State from Cuba just 14 months ago. She had to bring a cousin with her when she enrolled for ESOL classes at St. Petersburg College a year ago.

"When they asked me my name, my cousin, she had to translate," Garcia said.

In just a year, she has moved up to advanced level classes. Her friends and classmates have been amazed at her progress. But along the way, Garcia has also gotten to see what it is like trying to cope without language and literacy.

"We feel like we are out of this society because we cannot speak English," Garcia said. "When I started working at McDonald's, they put me in the lobby, and I have to clean everything because I cannot communicate with anybody."

Even as she gained a working command of English, Garcia had to face the indifference and occasional impatient hostility from members of the society she was trying to fit into.

"Sometimes people say, 'can I talk to somebody in English?' because they cannot understand what I'm saying," Garcia said. "And that's hard, because at least I'm trying to learn, and it's hard, but I'm trying to learn their language."

Mericle, who came to the United States from Costa Rica 10 years ago, lived with the anxiety of being at a linguistic disadvantage for some time.

"I can't talk with nobody, and I don't know what they are talking about," she said of her past experiences. "I stay far away from the people, because I don't want nobody to talk with me. I feel very bad and sad."

She relied on her husband, a pilot, to be her conduit to the world. When he was away on overnight flights, she was helpless.

But what finally motivated her to seriously pursue her ESOL classes was when she realized she needed it to communicate with her children and grandchildren, who were being raised speaking English.

She laughed about when she had to go to school events, like parent-teacher conferences, she would just nod her head and smile.

"When I get home, I ask my son, "What happened, what did they say?' " Mericle said. "Sometimes, I have to tell them, please write for me, because when my husband comes home, he knows what happened."

After a solid year of classes, Mericle is at the intermediate level.

"Now I feel a little better, because I don't understand everything, there are many things I have to ask somebody, 'what's that?' But now there is a little bit more I understand."

Garcia and Mericle know what it is like to be a stranger in a strange land, to be able-bodied and intelligent but still unable to get around or accomplish simple chores. They know what it is excluded from the world around them by a barrier of words. And now that the barrier is down for them, they intend to use their words to help others.

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