English As a Second Language

(NEW TIME beginning January 2013)

ESL classes - Mondays & Wednesdays from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Current events - Fridays 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Volunteer instructors teach classes to new Americans learning English as a second language. Skills for daily living and cultural experiences are emphasized in a conversational, social environment.

If you are interested in participating in our ESL program as a student or volunteer teacher/tutor, please email our ESL Coordinator, Margy Sugar.

News for January 2013

Donna Goldberg will no longer be serving as ESL Coordinator at CJFS, but she will still be around to help teach and visit occasionally.   We are happy for Donna, who is taking some time off to travel!  Also, our class schedule is changing slightly (see above), so please call our office if you have questions.

Bonfield Library has a new home

Russian language books donated, gathered and catalogued by Barbara Bonfield, Stella Antselevich and others in fond memory of Robert Bonfield ESL volunteer teacher have moved from the Bonfield Library at the former CJFS Outreach Center to Samford University in Homewood, Alabama under the auspices of Larissa Charny librarian and Russian Language teacher.

Larissa has promised to take good care of each and every one of these cherished books and may share some of them with the language department at Samford.  "The books are in good loving hands," Larissa emailed.

Cultural Experience

Thank you to the R. Lawrence Bonfield Fund for enabling several of our English as a Second Language students and guests to attend the symphony again this year! The group was most appreciative and enjoyed the concert immensely.

 

Sharing our Culture

During a multi-generational program on Wednesday morning, May 9, 2012 ,  CJFS's ESL students and children learning the Russian language at the Alabama Waldorf School in the Crestwood neighborhood area celebrated Russia's Victory Day Holiday which commemorates the Soviet Union's 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany.

Rita Meikson, Russian language teacher, and Linda Powell, K - 8 grade teacher of the Waldorf School of Alabama, brought their 6th- 8th grade students to visit Collat Jewish Family Service's English as a Second Language class.  Speaking in the Russian language, the Waldorf school children recited poems by renowned Russian poets such as Yevgeny Yevtushenko about suffering and survival during World War II.  Afterwards these talented Waldorf children sang, in a most harmonious fashion, the song, "Star light, Star bright;" and homemade Russian cookies of egg whites and sugar were served.  Following the commemorative program both groups of students, the English as a Second Language students, who are mostly resettled immigrants from the former Soviet Union, and the Alabama Waldorf School children, conversed with each other in both English and Russian.  It is hoped that students from the Alabama Waldorf School will visit Collat Jewish Family Service's English as a Second Language Class on a continual basis during the next academic school year.