One of the benefits of working with ESL students is that I learn another language along the way. The regular HILT aid (who is bilingual in Spanish and English) was out today, so I had the challenge of working one-on-one with a girl with extremely limited English. Since I have extremely limited Spanish, this definitely provided quite the challenge. However, I felt that I was successful in explaining things so that she understood, and she seemed to grasp concepts that were unfamiliar to her before. Also, I am forced to remember my very rudimentary Spanish. It's rather awesome.
Several students in the ESL class have Amharic or an Asian language as their native language, and thus have to learn another alphabet as well as an entirely new language. They seem to be having an easier time with the curriculum than the two Spanish speakers I work with, for whatever reason (maybe they were learning in their home countries; several of them are here expressly to learn English). They are learning Spanish, as well, due to the translations between the students and the fact that the students continue talking in their native languages because that's what they're comfortable with. Hooray for immersion.
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