COUNTYWIDE : He Can Now Sing Praises of New Land

Hugo Dipietro’s telephone answering machine greets callers with a recording of Chuck Berry belting out, “I’m so glad I’m living in the U.S.A.”

It is a statement that reflects the 39-year-old Argentinian’s enthusiasm for the opportunities this nation offers.

He left his native Buenos Aires 18 months ago on a whim, disillusioned by Argentina’s economic and political problems and ready to start anew. However, Dipietro didn’t speak a word of English.

So he enrolled in Coastline Community College’s English as a Second Language Institute last September and worked six hours a day at school and three hours each night studying the language.

Dipietro and more than 450 of his classmates will sing the national anthem today as they are honored for their progress.

The ceremony will be the largest and most formal since the institute started a decade ago.

Twice a year, about one-fifth of the institute’s 2,200 students take part in the ceremony and receive a certificate indicating the level of English proficiency they have attained.

“It’s proof that they’ve taken the classes and it encourages them to continue,” said Linda Kuntzman, director of the institute.

It will also be the last ceremony at the school’s current location, the Finnly Learning Center in Westminster. The institute will move to the vacant Robinwood Elementary School in Huntington Beach because the Westminster School District needs to reopen the learning center as an elementary school.

Coastline’s program started in 1980 with three classes and about 30 students, and has grown to 2,200 students per semester, 41 course sections and 55 teachers.

The students, mostly in their 30s, come from Vietnam, Colombia, Israel and Ethiopia, among other countries.

Their educational backgrounds are just as diverse. According to George P. Melican, dean of instruction, students range from being university-educated to illiterate in their native language.

“Many were professionals in their home country and are now learning English so they can take the state board tests within their fields and return to their careers. Others are learning the basics for the very first time.” Melican said.

An illustrator and art director for 25 years, Dipietro sought a career in advertising. He has been free-lancing for advertising agencies that cater to the Latino market, but he realized that he had to learn English to get ahead.

Today, Dipietro will receive a certificate for completing his beginning classes and plans to begin intermediate level course work in September. He plans to take a computer graphics class at Orange Coast College next year and eventually to apply to the prestigious Art Center in Pasadena--in addition to becoming a citizen.

“In this country I have a lot of possibilities,” Dipietro said. “Sometimes I feel frustrated because my English is not good and there are many things to do. But if you take to English with love, you learn. I already feel American.”