Breaking Down Walls

For 10 years, Phat and Vinh Nguyen waited. They studied and they waited in Vietnam.

“In my country, many want to come to the U.S. and study, but you have to pay a lot of money,” Phat said.

Instead, their grandparents, who live in the Fort Worth area, helped secure immigration paperwork for the sisters. But after arriving they faced another hurdle.

Though they began studying English in the fifth grade, they only studied English grammar and vocabulary with their Vietnamese teacher. They did not practice English conversation. At Tarrant County College, an advisor recommended they sign up for the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program.

In fall 2014, Phat and Vinh sat nervously at their desks, with hands folded, waiting for Mary Cinatl to begin class. “We try to break down the walls of being in a new culture and new place, to make it warm, welcoming and enjoyable,” said Cinatl, ESOL program coordinator.

TCC launched the ESOL program after an administrator saw a growing population of English language learners and international students on campus.

“We’re becoming an international society,” Cinatl said.

ESOL began at TCC in 2010 with six students. By the 2015 fall semester, the program grew to 256 students. It differs from English as a Second Language (ESL) as that program focuses on conversational English and learning basic English. ESOL prepares students for college classes.

Anglika Lorro was one of the first students in the program. As a young woman, she moved from her home in Ukraine to study German in Germany. There she met her American husband, who moved her to Texas. After taking ESL classes to learn English, she wanted to study more. She enrolled in developmental classes at TCC, but found herself struggling.

“I was really stressed and felt inferior. I thought maybe I was not smart enough to be in college.”

Anglika Lorro

But then Cinatl spoke to one of Lorro’s classes and she found reason to hope. She enrolled in ESOL classes.

Immigration is rising in the United States and will continue to, according to the Pew Research Center. Immigrants will comprise 18 percent of the U.S. population in 2065, compared with 14 percent today and five percent in 1965. The nation’s population grew by 131 million people from 1965 to 2015, including 72 million immigrants, their children or grandchildren, after the passage of the 1965 law rewriting national immigration policy. The need for English classes proves necessary as immigrants seek to improve their lives.

Of the students who have enrolled in TCC’s ESOL courses, 45 percent are from Vietnam, 21 percent from Spanish-speaking countries like El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Colombia and 18 percent speak Arabic, coming from Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco and Sudan.

With those immigrants come dreams and a desire for knowledge. ESOL provides an avenue for that.

“You need to learn English if you want to integrate into American society. It’s better for people who live here to understand traditions and life, to live in unity with other people.”

Anglika Lorro

“We want to change our lives,” Phat said.

After being tested for college admission, TCC advisors meet with students who fall into the developmental category to determine if they are second language learners. If they are, they recommend the students enroll in ESOL.

ESOL develops academic English skills needed for college classes: grammar, college-level vocabulary, essay writing and listening to class discussions and lectures. They read classic American novels, such as Of Mice and Men, The Giver, To Kill a Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451 and Where the Heart Still Beats, for comprehension and vocabulary. In addition, they give oral presentations and complete projects on each of the books.

After they pass the highest of the three levels of the classes with a 70 percent or better, then students are considered college-ready.

“They’ve gone through a lot just to be seated in our classes. They have a thirst for education.”

Mary Cinatl

Students participate in extracurricular activities like Hot Topics, which meets two times per week to discuss issues such as idioms or how the presidential races work in the U.S. They meet with native speakers for conversation once a week.

They also watch movies and discuss them. Sí Spanish ESOL Adventures brings together native English speakers learning Spanish with Spanish speakers learning English. Seeing is Believing brings in successful adults who are second language learners to share their stories, and current students realize they aren’t alone in their journey.

“They know this person has been homesick, had a fear of answering the phone because they would not understand them or not have the right words and say something that would get them in trouble,” Cinatl said.

Through it all, Cinatl watches her students grow in confidence. “That’s probably the greatest gift ESOL has given to these students,” she said.

Lorro found that to be true. She is studying to become a dietetic technician and made the Honor Society. She also works in the ESOL lab, helping other students like her.

In tracking the students who pursue their education at TCC, Cinatl follows their progress in three basic classes. In English, 86.8 percent of ESOL students pass, 94.2 percent pass government at and 78.4 percent pass history.

Phat and Vinh have succeeded at TCC after their ESOL classes.

“It gave us the opportunity to write a lot and learn from our mistakes,” Vinh said.

“I still feel shy talking to people because my pronunciation is not correct, but I feel better because I came here,” Phat said.

After benefiting from class conversation and presentations, Vinh felt prepared for college.

“When I had the speech class in college, it was very helpful for me. I could stand in class and talk about my topic without being nervous,” she said.

The sisters now attend TCC, work as math tutors and plan to work in math-related fields.