Aimee joined Literacy Together in 2017 as an ESOL tutor and is now a board member and an intern with the ESOL Program as part of her graduate education. She defines herself as “a massive language nerd,” having spent 16,000 days on Duolingo learning and practicing foreign languages. She has a degree in Italian and is currently learning Spanish, Russian, and Arabic. “The obsession with language and learning in general makes this opportunity a really good fit for me, and I think my enthusiasm for the subject helps the student.”

In this interview, she talks about the joy of learning and how rewarding her tutoring experience has been. Thanks for all you do, Aimee, and for sharing your passion for learning with the Literacy Together community!

The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program teaches oral English, reading, and writing to adults who have immigrated to the U.S. from around the world. ESOL is the largest program at Literacy Together, serving approximately 250 students annually. Our students’ most common goals in learning English are to improve their employment prospects, help their children in school, and pass the U.S. Naturalization exam. 

Become an ESOL tutor!

Literacy Together began a partnership with Mills Manufacturing in Woodfin several months ago to launch an ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) program. Recognizing that over half of Mills’ workforce consists of non-native English speakers and understanding the power of language, Mills reached out to us to request a collaboration. Today, the program consists of 30 Mills employees spread across six classes. Mills provides the space at their manufacturing plant while we provide the curriculum and our passionate volunteer tutors.

Students have so far made great improvements in not only language skills but also increased confidence, which is evident in their roles and interactions. Students report speaking English more with their co-workers and supervisors, fostering a more cohesive work environment. We have also been proud to see that many of our ESOL students are being celebrated as “Outstanding Employees” on Mills’ public bulletin board, highlighting their progress and improved contributions to the workplace. Congrats!

The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program teaches oral English, reading, and writing to adults who have immigrated to the U.S. from around the world. ESOL is the largest program at Literacy Together, serving approximately 250 students annually. Our students’ most common goals in learning English are to improve their employment prospects, help their children in school, and pass the U.S. Naturalization exam. 

Become an ESOL volunteer tutor

The Youth Literacy Program has had a busy summer supporting summer campers across our community. We hired 30 young adults (photo) to participate in our summer internship program. We have provided 1:1 reading tutoring to over 90 elementary-age students this summer. We worked with children attending the summer camp programs at Youth Transformed for Life, the Christine Avery Learning Center, and the YMCA summer camp located at Johnston Elementary School. 

Being a part of these summer camps has been a fantastic experience and a privilege. 

Learn more about the Youth Literacy Program and the Igniting Superhero Readers Summer Camp

Learn more about the Adult Literacy Program

Ariella and her tutor Penny have been working together for four years. They are devoted not only to the difficult work of building literacy skills; they’re also devoted to each other. I asked Ariella if she would share her story through writing — her experience with dyslexia, her extreme test anxiety, her tutoring partnership with Penny, and the transformations that have taken place in her life because of this work. Ariella wanted to write this narrative for other students so they know it is always possible to make a new life for themselves through literacy. 

Penny has been inspired by Ariella from the moment they met four years ago, and she had this to say about her story:

It is her journey and as she was reading it to me, I could hear initially the fear, the memories of embarrassment and finally the triumph of her journey. I hope you hear the same. She said I could polish it up, give it a shine. There is no shining brighter than this.

“I came to America in my 50s, and I could not read or write. I knew from a very young age that I have dyslexia. My mother tried to get me help, but was not able to because of the teachers/principals at the schools. What happened was when my Mother spoke to the principal about my dyslexia, she told my Mother she should not worry because I had a pretty face and I would get someone to look after me. I was 10 years old.  

So when I was growing up, I learned skills to mask my ability not to be able to read or write. I was very good at memorizing things, hiding and stepping away from when I needed to write. My mother would say that I was the smartest one in the house if I only could read. I don’t know that was true but it helped when I always thought I was stupid because I couldn’t read and write. It definitely was a barrier to what I know now I could’ve achieved had I had those skills and the people to help.  

When I came to America I was very worried about how I was going to cope without the skills. My daughter and I talked and she did research into getting me help. Once I came here, she found Literacy Together and made an appointment for me as soon as I came here to go and meet Rebecca. As you can imagine I was very nervous. This was a very big thing for me and had impacted my entire life. I had tried as an adult back home to get help and to go to classes, but they were no different than when I was at school, which was to say a word, learn it, which did not work for me or in my opinion, any dyslexic person. So, as Rebecca talked I just knew that this was going to be different. She said that I would be paired up with a tutor that she thought would suit me and I would suit them. She was so right. 

Soon after, I met my amazing Penny. I could see straight away why Rebecca had chosen Penny for me. She was perfect. I felt confident. I trusted her and how she began to teach me was completely different from the way I had been taught at home. We began with the vowels and she told me the sounds and also the consonants and their sounds.  

Then she moved on to what I have never been told before. Words are made up of patterns and how to break them up and how they connect to loads of different words. This was like a light bulb being switched on in every class we did. It was amazing. It seemed to be everywhere here you have forms to fill in all the time which is my worst nightmare. Every time I had to go to the Dr. I had to take someone with me. It was my worst nightmare. With Penny‘s help, I have learned so so much. I can fill in my own forms.

I never worry. 

I don’t have to take anybody with me to do it for me.

I can be independent.  

Then I found the love of reading which I now absolutely adore. Reading is everything. I can now do what children and adults around me were fit to do all my life. It’s like stepping into their world.  Dyslexic people are in one box and all the other people of the world are in the other box and now I can find the door to the box. I always loved listening to audiobooks, murder mysteries, and autobiographies and now, I can read them myself with my own voice in my head not listening to a stranger.  

Still sometimes it’s hard. When I’m tired or stressed, the dyslexia comes flooding back, especially when I have to do the yearly test which to me is a nightmare. I panic every time, no matter what Rebecca or Penny says to me. When I walk into the room I still get very stressed and my dyslexia comes back. The first 15-20 minutes are the worst. Everything on the page is what I call Chinese writing and I cannot read Chinese. My brain flicks back to all the times when I was in school and I have to do exams. I do not see any of the words properly even though now I can read words, spell words and break down sounds to make words. When it comes to the exam, the dyslexia comes back with a vengeance. 

I feel over the moon to be able to pick up a book or magazine and be able to read and enjoy them. I am not perfect yet. A lot of the times the spelling is a big stumbling block, but I do have much more skills to be able to figure it out mostly. I enjoy the learning so much. I would say to anybody who started off like me please, please go for it because as I say, it’s just like a light bulb going on in your head every single class.”