Document text
A language of friendship Mail Tribune / Drew Fleming Nuttira Boonchob, left, types an unfamiliar word into her English-Thai dictionary during a tutoring session with Judith Stevens. Rogue Community College pairs volunteer tutors with students, but there are not enough tutors to work with all the students asking for help. By Bill Kettler Nuttira Boonchob learns more than English grammar when she talks with Judith Stevens. Stevens chats with the 17-year-old Thai girl about making friends, and dating, and American history and politics. "We laugh a lot," says Stevens, of Phoenix. "I try to get her to talk as much as possible." "She tells me how to pronounce the words and what they mean," says Boonchob, who spoke no English when she arrived in Medford a year ago. "She tells me about American life." HOW YOU CAN BECOME A TUTOR Training sessions for people interested in tutoring have been scheduled for Sept. 23 and Oct. 7 at Rogue Community College�s Fir Street Learning Center, 30 S. Fir. St., Medford. The sessions begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 4 p.m. Tutors do not need teaching experience or knowledge of a foreign language. After completing the training sessions, tutors can work with adult students who are learning English as a second language or students in adult basic education who are learning reading, writing and basic math. To register for the training sessions, or for more information about the tutoring program, call Carolyn Shaw-Straus at 245-7576. Stevens and Boonchob met through a tutoring program sponsored by Rogue Community College and the Literacy Council of Jackson County. Volunteer tutors work with adults who are learning English as a second language and help native English speakers who are learning basic reading, writing and mathematics. About 100 tutors work with RCC students, but at least 25 students are on a waiting list, says Carolyn Shaw-Straus, RCC�s volunteer tutor coordinator. Shaw-Straus says the strong economy has encouraged many native English speakers to return to school to learn new job skills. Some need to learn basic reading, writing and math before they can tackle more challenging academic courses. "They might not be able to read the newspaper," she says. "They can�t read a job application or fill out a job application. They can�t write a cover letter or a resume, or read procedure manuals on the job." Others, such as Boonchob, need to learn English before they can continue their education or use the skills they learned in their homeland. A few years ago, most of those students would have been native Spanish speakers from Latin American countries. These days, tutors may well find themselves working with someone who grew up speaking Hindi or Portuguese or Russian. "More and more people have moved here from other countries," Shaw-Straus says, "and they want to continue their education and work here." Shaw-Straus says at least 18 languages are represented in RCC�s English-as-a-second-language program as the fall quarter begins. The students� cultural diversity gives tutors an opportunity to learn while they teach. "You can meet interesting people from all over the globe and have a conversation in English," she says. "People make lifelong friends." Tutors say they enjoy working with motivated adults and watching them learn. "I get to help someone learn English and make a living here," says Tracie Olsen, of Medford. "It�s fun." Olsen originally volunteered to teach adult basic education to native English speakers, then agreed to try her hand at English as a second language. She found she enjoyed working with people who grew up speaking other languages, and has tutored students who grew up speaking Russian and Portuguese. Olsen says her anxieties about communication have faded with experience. "Whenever we can�t understand each other, we just laugh." Ashland tutor Barbara Hopfinger has become close friends with a Taiwanese couple she has tutored for two years. "We talk about everything," she says. "We talk about things that happen in their lives and the lives of their children." A retired teacher, Hopfinger says students learn faster when they can work one-on-one with a tutor. "In a schoolroom setting you miss the individual give-and-take." Shaw-Straus says tutors need no teaching experience. "To be a basic skills tutor, you�d have to know the letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make. To teach ESL, you need to be able to have a conversation in English. "All you need is a willingness to help another human being." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA