{"id":22678,"date":"2024-10-21T09:31:29","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T13:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/multi.nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/?p=22678"},"modified":"2025-02-13T09:40:23","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T14:40:23","slug":"brooklyn-librarys-free-english-classes-help-immigrants-and-asylum-seekers-build-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-librarys-free-english-classes-help-immigrants-and-asylum-seekers-build-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Library’s Free English Classes Help Immigrants and Asylum Seekers Build Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Owen Lavine<\/p>\n

On a recent Wednesday morning, students from South Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Honduras and Myanmar shuffled into the second floor of a library in Park Slope to start their day with an English class.<\/p>\n

As an ice-breaker, Joe Tropeano, the instructor, directed the students in a game of Two Truths and a Lie. Not a second lapsed before the class broke out in\u00a0laughter as a student called out Tropeano on his fraudulent guitar skills.<\/p>\n

The relaxed scene at the Pacific Library branch was a far cry from what some of the 20 students experienced in their home countries. Some have fled war, violence and political oppression, while others are simply looking for new economic opportunities. A free class like this one at the\u00a0Brooklyn Public Library<\/a>\u00a0(BPL) is one of the first steps for many immigrants to continue getting emergency shelter services, obtain asylum status and get ahead in the city.<\/p>\n

The class is a part of the BPL\u2019s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) adult learning program, which helps asylum seekers, immigrants and others improve their English, according to BPL Press Officer Fritzi Bodenheimer.<\/p>\n

As the number of asylum seekers in New York City increased to over 200,000 in the past several years, so has the demand for these services. Bolstered by a recent $1 million grant from the\u00a0Carnegie Corporation of New York<\/a>, BPL plans to expand these services to thousands more.<\/p>\n

Kerwin Pilgrim, director of adult learning at BPL, estimated that the grant will help the BPL serve an additional 4,600 people, with 300 ESOL students over a two-year lifetime. The grant will also allow BPL to hire new staff including job support specialists, entrepreneurial advisors\u00a0and a navigator to help immigrants figure out library resources.<\/p>\n

For now, the new funding will also help the library system figure out where the classes are needed most.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to meet people where they are,\u201d Pilgrim explained.<\/p>\n

\"embed\"
Photo: Owen Lavine for BK Reader<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The grant will help go toward funding BPL\u2019s beginner, intermediate and advanced ESOL classes which run in 11-week cycles through the fall, winter and spring. In addition, there will be job training and entrepreneurial programs which seek to help immigrants \u201cbecome more familiar with the workplace culture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe immigrant experience is traumatizing\u2026 And we try to be very trauma informed and trauma responsive in our institution to ensure that we provide that type of welfare,\u201d Pilgrim said.<\/p>\n

He recalled a time when a former student approached him at the library. Pilgrim initially did not recognize the student, but learned the student had taken part in one of the first computer programs offered at BPL. The student told him that he eventually went on to work as a technology specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat person was proof-of-concept that I made a difference,\u201d Pilgrim reflected. \u201cThat was one of the first programs I started with this lens of outcome, with this lens of making a difference in the communities that we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to the Carnegie funding injection, Pilgrim said he is looking forward to another large opportunity to make a difference.<\/p>\n

Back at the morning English class, Tropeano worked with the students on parsing soft and hard skills, as well as the difference between skills and abilities. Tropeano then passed around two job listings from LinkedIn, one for a data entry analyst and another for a theater art director. The students then decided which of the qualifications listed in the job description were soft or hard skills or abilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can dance Punta,\u201d one student scrawled in a notebook under abilities, referring to the traditional Gar\u00edfuna dance from Honduras and Belize. Another student told Tropeano that he was a critical thinker.<\/p>\n

During the three-hour classes, students take tests, engage in activities, converse and are assigned homework.<\/p>\n

Pilgrim emphasized that many of the class activities center around career-oriented language and familiarizing the students on how to write a resume\u00a0and cover letter, and look through and understand job listings.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are here to learn,\u201d Tropeano said. \u201cThey\u2019re here for a tangible skill.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Owen Lavine On a recent Wednesday morning, students from South Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Honduras and Myanmar shuffled into the second floor of a library in Park Slope to start their day with an English class. As an ice-breaker, Joe Tropeano, the instructor, directed the students in a game of Two Truths and a Lie. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5904,"featured_media":22679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,3461,2870],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-whats-buzzin","category-development","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nBrooklyn Library's Free English Classes Help Immigrants and Asylum Seekers Build Skills - Brooklyn News and Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nycnewsnetwork.com\/brooklynbuzz\/brooklyn-librarys-free-english-classes-help-immigrants-and-asylum-seekers-build-skills\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brooklyn Library's Free English Classes Help Immigrants and Asylum Seekers Build Skills\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By: Owen Lavine On a recent Wednesday morning, students from South Korea, Ukraine, Russia, Honduras and Myanmar shuffled into the second floor of a library in Park Slope to start their day with an English class. 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