Learners Stories

My family and I immigrated to the United Stated almost two years ago. Learning English as the most spoken language in the country seemed to be our first priority, so I searched on the Internet to find some ESL courses in my neighborhood.

I found out in Oak Park, there is an office called “Literacy Volunteers” and one of their activities is helping non-English speakers to learn English by matching them to tutors who volunteer their time to teach them. It sounded good to me. However, I did not know how much it would help me.

I decided to call the director of program, Ms. Lopez, to get more information. She said that their routine is taking a test from students to determine their English level and then she would match tutors to them.

I was surprised when I found out the schedule is flexible and it just depends on my tutor and me.

After a few weeks, I received an e-mail indicating that I could start my sessions in the public library in my neighborhood.

Now after one year, I am really happy to say that our sessions really helped me to improve my English skills and I feel more comfortable in my new society. Furthermore, I passed the ESL exams at Triton College with good scores and I received the ESL scholarship to continue my education at college level.

I really appreciate the literacy volunteer program and I would like to thank my tutor, Ms. Joy Conklin, for helping me. Actually, she is not only my English tutor; she is my first American friend and my counselor on every thing. Her kind and friendly attitude, her patience and her punctuality is always precious to me.

I wish the best for the Literacy Volunteers group.

Thank you again,

Your Iranian student,

Katayun Kianzad