‘Miscellany’ Archives
English Learning Center
BY KATHLEEN ROCHE, PM ESL Volunteer Coordinator. The English Learning Center, located in the Phillips Community at Chicago Avenue and 24th Street, works with adult immigrants and refugees from over 40 different countries. Their work is educationally empowering immigrants and refugees toward self-determination by teaching English, math, computer skills, and citizenship. Students are a diverse body, the most advanced English class has students from Somalia, Mexico, Ecuador and Ukraine. Recently this class collaboratively wrote a piece describing some of their experiences they feel many native Minnesotans might not understand about them. Some of the misunderstandings were shared among the group, and some were unique to individuals or groups. Overall the assignment taught the classmates more about one another, as they worked together in an effort to teach you more about new immigrants. Please also remember this class is speaking of their experiences, this may not be representative of all [...]
We Are Your Neighbors: Things You Might Not Understand about New Immigrants
By PM English Level 5/6 Class at the English Learning Center There are many things that people in Minnesota don”'t understand about new immigrants. There are many things in our culture that are different. First, our religion is different. Some new immigrants are Christians, some are Muslim, and some may be another religion. One difference for Catholics from Mexico and South America is that they celebrate Virgin Mary on December 12. Muslims pray 5 times a day. Also, every year, Muslims have one month of fasting and two holidays. Many Muslims hope to go to Hajj in Mecca. Many immigrants wear clothes that are different. Muslim women wear dresses, hijabs, and scarves that cover all of the body except the face and hands. Some women also choose to cover their face. For many new immigrants their home country is hotter than Minnesota. They need new winter clothes in America. It is very cold here, especially in Minnesota. There is no snow in many of the countries immigrants come from, [...]
