LAGUNA HILLS : Classes for Language Tutors Begin Today

What began as an 18-hour training class for English-language tutors has turned into a labor of love for Estelle Rosenthal.

Now one of the organizers of the South Coast Literacy Council, Rosenthal will be welcoming another crop of volunteer tutors today at St. Nicholas Church, 24252 El Toro Road, starting at 9:30 a.m.

The classes will be held on six consecutive weekends until Sept. 12.

If unable to make the first class, prospective tutors can enroll in the next session.

Teaching people of many countries and languages how to speak English has been a rewarding experience that Rosenthal says she wouldn’t exchange for anything.

“My pay-back is the pleasure of seeing (pupils) learn,” said Rosenthal, who has been an English tutor for 18 years. “They get a look in their eyes and a smile of achievement about them. You know that you’re really making them better Americans.”

Knowledge of a foreign language is not required for the 18-hour course. After graduation, tutors will teach speaking, reading and writing to small groups of one to three adults, Rosenthal said.

“We get a lot more out of this than our students,” she said. “It’s a wonderful kind of connection that develops between the tutors and students.”

For more information about the program, call (714) 458-8664, (714) 493-6279 or (714) 493-3800.