Seniors Help Their New Neighbors Learn English

In a classroom at the North Hollywood Adult Learning Center, Max Sherry, 77, explained the difference between hymn and him to half a dozen adults who have immigrated here from as many different countries.

As he repeated the explanation for the third time, he realized the class was beginning to understand.

In another room, Maria Novvaro, 28, formerly of Tepic, Mexico, and now of North Hollywood received one-on-one assistance from Edward W. Brylant, 76, as she thumbed through a dictionary to understand why custom and costume sounded the same to her.

Sherry, a retired garment worker, and Brylant, a retired insurance company executive, are part of a small army of volunteer teachers’ aides in the ESL--English as a Second Language--program in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Three of the five district adult schools in the San Fernando Valley--at North Hollywood, Van Nuys and El Camino Real in Woodland Hills--rely on volunteers to assist teachers in ESL and language-proficiency classes, which account for 75% to 85% of each school’s enrollment.

The volunteers “are a real asset,” said Paul Hamel, El Camino assistant principal. “You’re always going to find a couple of people in class who do better than average and some who do lower, and it really helps when an aide can take two or three of the people who are having a hard time and review what they have done.”

The three dozen Valley volunteers, most of them senior citizens, are from different walks of life. They seem to share one common desire--to continue to play an active role in society.

Ben Wallas, 76, a retired social worker who volunteers at North Hollywood, said he would rather help ESL students than sit at home.

“This is a labor of love,” he said. “They’re good kids. They’re nice people.”

Monica Feuerman, 55, a former occupational therapist, agreed. “When they catch on, you can sort of see a light switch on in their eyes,” she said. “It’s a wonderful feeling because you realize what you’re teaching them is finally taking hold.”

“My wife thinks it is the most wonderful thing I could possibly be doing,” said Brylant, who volunteers four hours each morning Monday through Thursday. “I’m not a game player, I’m not a golfer, and this gives me the best excuse in the world to get up before breakfast. I don’t know when I’ve done anything that has been more rewarding.”

Satisfaction among volunteers is a major reason people keep coming back, said Sandra Brown, 56, coordinator at North Hollywood, noting that Sherry has been volunteering for 12 years.

“It’s a two-way street,” Brown said. “They’re a great asset to us and we also feel good because we’re offering them something.”

“There is a certain kind of person who volunteers,” Hamel said. “It’s someone who feels they have to give for their own self-worth.”

The time volunteers donate varies from two hours a week to four hours every weekday. Potential volunteers apply to the program and are required to be tested for tuberculosis. There’s a two-week orientation in which volunteers visit various classes to get a feel for the job and--more importantly--to see if they like it. If they want to continue, volunteers talk to teachers about a commitment.

Although they earn no pay--except perhaps a free cup of coffee--the recognition they receive is important, administrators say.

“They’re invited to all of our department and teacher staff development meetings and are informed about the various volunteer programs the school district has,” Hamel said. Volunteers also have a representative on the School Community Advisory Committee and are invited to the yearly graduation ceremony.

The majority of the volunteers in the three Valley schools got involved through a program called DOVES (Dedicated Older Volunteers in Educational Services), by word of mouth or through membership in the National Council of Jewish Women.

Some, such as Sherry, wanted something to do after the death of a spouse. Others, such as Ed Brylant, heard about the program and decided to investigate. Still others, such as Feuerman, Carol Goldstein and Bea Hess, organized a small group from the National Council of Jewish Women.

The group makes volunteer project a high priority, Hess said, “because it’s important to give back to the community.”

Other volunteers had similar motivations.

“It’s total excitement to have people learning something that you’ve helped them with,” said Goldstein, 70, a former elementary school teacher. “It’s something that teachers miss when we stop. It’s great to go back and feel that wonderful empathy.”

“I’m enjoying the intellectual stimulation,” Feuerman added. “Besides, my husband has noticed an improvement in my Spanish.”

“Currently, I’m working with a husband-and-wife team from Poland,” Brylant said. “They’re pediatricians and want to learn the language so they can work in this country.”

And then, say the volunteers, there are those off-the-wall comments from students, including the woman who called her studious husband a wormbook.

“One Chinese man asked us if the peasants were rich here,” Hess said.

“And there are certain things they all know about America,” Feuerman said. But there are also questions the volunteers are not prepared for, such as one from the student who asked Feuerman if the teachers and aides were angry at them for not speaking English. Taken aback, she quickly said no, and added that she was there to help them.

“The hardest part for these students is that they are afraid people will laugh at them when they start to speak English,” Sherry said. “They all have the same fear that people are going to make fun of them.

“I get pleasure when they complete the entire course and get their diplomas,” he said. “Many tell their story of how they came to America, didn’t know English, studied and persevered. I enjoy that.”