As an English Language Learning (ELL) teacher, Alexis has written her story at two different levels, advanced and intermediate, to make the story accessible to audiences at multiple levels!
Advanced Version
Having volunteered at Mid-State Literacy Council (MSLC) in the English Language Learning (ELL) program since May 2024, I strongly dislike calling the people with whom I’ve worked “students.” This term implies that I as the teacher know everything and only impart knowledge to my “students.” This is far from the truth.
In the fall of 2024, I taught Intermediate Everyday English to a group of incredible adults, including Marta Besòs from Spain. In our class, we talked so much about the English language and American culture, such as the role of swing states in the then-ongoing 2024 election. From our time together, our group became friends and continued to meet outside of the MSLC office in the spring! When I applied and got accepted to a conference in Spain, Marta and her husband immediately invited my husband and me to visit them in their home city of Barcelona!
This June, we had the amazing opportunity to visit them at home. After talking so much about the US, American culture, and English together in our class, my husband and I got to learn about Spain and Spanish culture from Marta and her husband, two resident experts! As we feasted on paella by the beach, we learned about finding an authentic paella (e.g. It should be darker in color. Yellow or orange coloring likely means artificial ingredients!). We also got to see what it means to navigate a bilingual society between the regional language of Catalan and the national language of Spanish. These are just two of the highlights. We had a wonderful time together and learned so much!
I’m thankful to MSLC for the opportunity to help people from other countries navigate life in the US, which can lead to beautiful cross-cultural friendships! From these interactions and friendships, we can learn so much from others with different life experiences!
Author: Alexis Wilt
Intermediate Version
I have volunteered at MSLC in the English Language Learning (ELL) program since May 2024. In my role, I don’t like the terms “students” or “teacher.” Teachers know everything and only share knowledge with their students. This just is not true.
In the fall of 2024, I taught Intermediate Everyday English to a group of incredible adults, including Marta Besòs from Spain. In our class, we talked so much about the English language and American culture. For example, we talked about the role of swing states in the 2024 political election. From our time together, our group became friends. We continued to meet outside of the MSLC office in the spring! I applied and got accepted to a conference in Spain. Then Marta and her husband invited my husband and me to visit them in their home city of Barcelona!
This June, we had the amazing opportunity to visit them at home. My husband and I got to learn about Spain and Spanish culture from Marta and her husband, two resident experts! We enjoyed paella by the beach. We learned about finding real paella (e.g. It should be darker in color. Yellow or orange coloring likely means artificial ingredients!). We also watched Marta and her husband navigate a society with two languages. People from Barcelona speak both the regional language Catalan and the national language Spanish. These are just two highlights. We had a wonderful time together and learned so much!
I’m thankful to MSLC for the opportunity to help people from other countries navigate life in the US. This can lead to beautiful cross-cultural friendships! From these interactions and friendships, we can learn so much from others with different life experiences!
