For ESL students in Valley Stream, it’s English with a side of culture

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Nancy Gomez, of Valley Stream, teaches Spanish-and French-speaking immigrants about clothes sizes.
Nancy Gomez, of Valley Stream, teaches Spanish-and French-speaking immigrants about clothes sizes.
Melissa Koenig/Herald

Standing in front of a classroom at Memorial Junior High School on Feb. 27, Nancy Gomez kicked out her right leg, and then her left, as her adult students — many of whom are from Haiti or Central or South America — announced, “One leg, two legs.”

“I do a lot of body language,” said Gomez. “I show them, and they’re like slowly nodding, so I hope that they’re getting it.”

To learn English at MJHS through the Board of Cooperative Educational Services English as a Second Language program, the students must be Valley Stream residents. There is no age requirement, but most are ages 20 to 40. The class is free for eligible students, and is funded by the New York State Employment Preparation Education Grant. Students do, however, have to pay a registration fee, which is $55 for the summer, and for any required textbooks.

The Valley Stream ESL program celebrated its 10th anniversary on March 7, and has served more than 1,000 students. Many use the tools they learn in the BOCES program to help them get jobs.

Gomez, who is from El Salvador, immigrated to the U.S. in 1996, and took classes similar to the one she now teaches when she was a 7-year-old living in Laurelton, Queens. She said that as a child, she had trouble adapting to a new language and culture.

“I remember having to take exams in my classes and failing all of them,” she said. “I was ashamed to take them home and having to get them signed, because I felt as though I just wasn’t a good student at all.”

The problem wasn’t her learning ability, however. It was her inability to comprehend English. “Once I learned the language, everything started to make sense, and I went from getting very low grades to actually acing some exams,” Gomez said, adding that she took Advanced Placement courses in high school.

Now a Valley Stream resident, she says that her experience inspired her to teach others English. “I have a lot of Spanish speakers, and they try to say everything in Spanish,” she said. “… They know that even though I speak the language, I try not to respond. Then, by the end of the year, you see little pieces slowly coming together. I think that’s very rewarding.”

In her BOCES introductory English course, students learn life skills, such as how to fill out an application, write the date and send mail. In their Feb. 27 class, Gomez taught them about sizes so they could go clothes shopping.

She understands many of the problems her students face, she said, because she also had to adapt to a new culture. “Not only must they learn this new language, but they also have to adapt to the culture,” she said, “and that is why we are constantly comparing cultures in classes.”

As the students progress through the six levels of the program, they learn more about the nuances of the language. To help them better understand colloquialisms, Eileen Graba, the site coordinator for Valley Stream BOCES, uses special topics.

“In January we were on the health topic, so I taught them, what does it mean to be under the weather?” Graba said. “Because if you didn’t know, you’d think we were talking about the weather.”

Damela Baez, 27, understands this struggle firsthand. She had to clean tables when she first arrived in the U.S. from Chile almost nine months ago, but with the help of the ESL program, she is now a server at a café in Valley Stream.

“I know it’s difficult for them to give me a job if I can’t express myself all the time,” Baez said. “Sometimes it’s difficult for them and me, but they give me the opportunity.”

For now, she wants to continue to learn so that she can gain more experience and get better jobs — goals that she says are more difficult to achieve in Chile.

“I don’t know all about America, but [from] what I can see, the child will travel for work or can see what they want to do in life,” Baez said. “But in South America, it’s most important that when you finish school, you work now, because you must try to help your family.”

Baez said she is grateful for the ESL program, which she called “amazing,” for giving her the ability to learn and work in the U.S. She said she hopes to someday open a café in Chile.

For more information on the program, visit the BOCES website, nassauboces.org, call (516) 622-5623, or visit the main office, at 3100 Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown.