Tag: esl

ESL Club Bridging the Great Divide

cnmchronicleLeave a comment
Lima visiting the Grand Canyon this past winter. Photo provided, courtesy of the ESL Club

Story By Mark Graven

Staff Reporter

One doesn’t have to travel to the Grand Canyon to know that geography can divide people.  But people can be isolated and divided in many ways, Deborah Lima, president of CNM’s ESL (English as a Second Language) Club, has discovered- especially in a time of covid, and especially when you are from a foreign country.
The 16 members of the ESL come from around the globe, according to Lima, an ESL major from Brazil.  Some of the other countries represented include Russia, China, Saudia Arabia, Vietnam, South Korea, and Mexico, she said.  Some are young, some are older, including a 91-year old from Russia.
Normally, they would meet at locations on the Montoya campus, and go on outings to interesting spots in New Mexico, like the pueblos, Lima said in a telephone interview.
The club members would also enjoy the fellowship of potluck dinners, with some outstanding international cuisine. Currently,  however, the club, like many CNM clubs, operates, remotely–using Zoom and the telephone, Lima noted.
Lima said that she tries to talk to each member of her club by phone everyday.  
“We talk about cooking, gardening, our families, our dogs, our hobbies– anything but the pandemic” said Lima.
According to Laura Jijon, the group’s faculty advisor, club members help each other register for programs and activities, and with their studies.  They help  people get in touch with the right person to  solve a problem, she said.
It is all about staying in touch, staying connected, and helping each other, according to Lima, who applauds Jijon for setting a great example.
According to Jijon, the group members have collaborated on writing projects, including a children’s book, entitled “CNM Small World,” and a book of poetry, ” Immigrant Memories and Poetic Ambitions.”
The club is currently considering producing a book and/or an event about their experience during the pandemic, Jijon said.

Is English your second language? | ESL special

cnmchronicleLeave a comment

By Stephanie Stuckey, Staff Reporter

ESL is an acronym for English as a second language said Carol Culver, MA director of Adult Basic Education and the School of Adult & General Education.

The ESL program is under the umbrella of Adult Basic Education and has been at CNM for many years, Culver said.

“The students that go to the ESL program are generally not native speakers of the English language, and often English may be the third or fourth language that they speak,” she said.

The ESL department is located in the CNM Connect area of the SCC and anyone interested in ESL classes at CNM can sign-up for an orientation that is offered every three weeks Culver said.

Along with the orientation, the student will need to complete a placement test for proper class placement because the classes are leveled, she said.

Upon completion of the orientation process students can register for classes that they qualify for, she said.

“There is no tuition for classes offered by the ESL program since it is a federally and stated government funded program,  the books are free and provided by the program as well, but there is however a $10 registration fee,” she said.

The classes are non-credit classes, but the ESL program offers co-enrollment classes where the more advanced students can take non-credit and college credit classes, she said.

These types of classes are for ESL students interested in attending college, but might be worried that their English is not quite good enough to take college credit courses, she said.

CNM’s non-credit/credit class program offers a supplemental ESL non-credit class to accompany the college credit class to help support the student, she said.

IBEST which stands for Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training is another program offered by the ESL program;  the integrated basic education is the ESL part and the skills training part allows students to receive training in a specified skill, Culver said.

There are two participating programs currently, she said.

One in Early Childhood/Multicultural Education partnered with the CHSS department at CNM and the other is Nursing Assistant partnered with the School of Health, Wellness, & Public Safety at CNM, she said.

“These programs seem to be extremely popular with the students and have long wait lists,” she said.

Culver said they are hoping to expand these programs as well as offer programs in other areas in the future.

“Students who are not quite at this level can participate in a program called Life Skills English which is geared toward new immigrants that need more help with the basics of the English language,” she said.

Topics of this program cover things like how to function in the community such as shopping, renting an apartment, signing a lease, etc., she said.

“It gives the students opportunities to practice dialogue in these particular settings in the English language,” she said.

Other resources available to ESL students are specified tutors partnered with ACE, English conversational groups, ESL book club, and U.S. citizenship exam preparation, she said.

The ESL program also has a class available for non-native English speaking CNM custodial staff to help them improve their English for their job as well as to support them in becoming U.S. citizens, Culver said.

“The whole program of Adult Basic Education over 4,000 students walk through their door and about 60% of them are ESL students,” she said.

In Albuquerque the highest group of immigrants are Spanish speakers, but there is also a significant population of Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic speakers as well, Culver said.

“I have spent twenty-five years teaching immigrants – thousands of students who said please help me, I want to improve my English,” Culver said.

She said when there is a large group of immigrants there is a great need and desire to learn English.

Passion for language | Instructor Spotlight: Rodney Ulibarri

cnmchronicleLeave a comment

By Stephanie Stuckey, Staff Reporter

Rodney Ulibarri, faculty mentor, at CNM grew-up bi-lingual, speaking both English and Spanish at home.

He does translations for many of the academic departments of CNM as well as the CNM website, he said.

He is also an instructor for Spanish 101 and 102 level classes, he said.

“I find the differences and similarities of multiple languages very interesting,” he said.

Prior to accepting the Language Translator position at CNM he was primarily a Spanish instructor, but has also taught math courses at CNM as well, he said.

Ulibarri’s history with CNM also includes working as an achievement coach for a program called La Communidad and being a clerical specialist in the registration office, he said.

He has a bachelor degree in psychology and Spanish from the University of New Mexico as well as a masters in Linguistics, he said.

“I worked on a project of linguistic variance called a linguistic atlas which involved the history of Spanish and its relation to New Mexico,” he said.

Ulibarri said the project started in Mexico City, then went to Spain, and finally New Mexico.  He entered the project in 1991 and interviewed people from all over New Mexico.

He interviewed three different generations both female and male from the ages of 18-35, 35-65, and 65+ he said.

“The love for linguistics became evident to me when I was ten years old due to having a sister who is hearing impaired which gave me an opportunity to  learn sign language so I could communicate with her,” he said.

He began to notice similarities in Spanish and sign language in the way certain words related to each other, he said.

Ulibarri recalls his grandparents being literate in Spanish and taught him how to read in Spanish by reading the Bible and singing Spanish hymns with him, he said.

Originally from northern New Mexico, Ulibarri grew-up in the south valley of Albuquerque, he said.

He recalls as a student at Harrison Middle School, the thought of attending college did not even cross his mind, he said.

“Even though I earned above average grades, and made the honor roll, I did not think of college as an option,” he said.

Ulibarri graduated from Rio Grande High School in 1984 where many of his teachers expected him to go onto college and major in medicine or archaeology, he said.

Rodney Ulibarri working hard for students.
Rodney Ulibarri working hard for students.

Photo by Stephanie Stuckey