Late Learner : At 76, Peruvian Immigrant Is Industrious English Student

One by one, Gilberto and Lilia Hernani’s six children left their homein Peru for the United States. When their last daughter said goodby, they felt isolated and alone.

So in 1980, the couple sold their house and car, packed their belongings and departed their beloved motherland to start anew in what they call the “land of the freeways,” otherwise known as Orange County.

For the past six years, Gilberto Hernani, now 76, has tried to make the cultural transition complete by becoming one of the oldest--and most persistent--students in a class in English as a second language.

Five days a week, Hernani takes the bus from Mission Viejo, where he and his wife reside, to San Juan Capistrano. There, at the Capistrano Adult School, he arrives punctually, rain or shine, for his 9 a.m. class.

“He’s been the most faithful student I’ve ever had,” said Peggy Edwards, an ESL instructor for 10 years who teaches the three-hour class. “I think this is what keeps him alive, it’s part of his routine.”

Edwards even has to remind Hernani not to show up for class on Saturdays, because he loves learning so much that he’ll forget and come to class.

Learning another language has been difficult for the retired insurance manager, but his admiration of Edwards inspires him to persist.

“When one is old it is more difficult to learn English, and although I may not speak it very well I would never leave my teacher . . . I’ll be here forever,” Hernani said.

But while he’s embracing his adopted language with a passion, he hasn’t given up the old ways. He still loves to play the guitar and dance the tango.

It is Hernani who provides the acoustic accompaniment when the students sing in class. He keeps a guitar at school especially for this, and not only strums but sings along.

His guitar playing goes back to his teen-age years when he performed in El Cuarteto Puerto Nuevo--the Newport Quartet--in his hometown of Arequipa, Peru.

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It was relatively easy for the Hernanis to leave Peru and adjust to their new home, but their love for the old country inspires them to seek Peruvian companions in Orange County.

“We came to the United States for the first time in 1961 as tourists, and it was marvelous to be here, to see all the freeways,” said Lilia Hernani, 72, who has learned English since moving here.

But the couple will never forget their homeland.

“We feel nostalgic when we hear the music, but this is our second motherland and we have no regrets about coming here,” she added.

By cooking her husband Peruvian dishes for lunch, Lilia Hernani feels the connection to Peru. Additionally, the Hernanis get together with a Mission Viejo group of Peruvians to dance and play their instruments.

It is at these reunions where Hernani hits the dance floor to tango and dance to traditional folk songs and waltzes.

“In Peru we always had parties here, parties there--we always danced,” said Gilberto Hernani. “Here in the United States we don’t dance as much, but whenever we have reunions with other Peruvians we really get down.”

Get down is not exactly a phrase from his native land, but reflects his progress with English.

His notebook is jampacked with orderly sentences he has learned, penned in two different colors--to differentiate between topics, Hernani explained. And always on hand is his Spanish/English dictionary, marked with a huge 1990 and other years indicating how long he has had it.

His weakness is translating from Spanish to English, but with his six children and 11 grandchildren, there is always someone to come to the rescue, Hernani said.

After the first three years of study with Edwards, Hernani was ready to move on to the next level, but rather than leave his teacher he opted to remain in the class. He also preferred not to advance because of his age.

So now he continues to learn courtesy phrases, his favorite topic because it allows him to interact on the streets. Whether it’s on the bus, at the barbershop or a pizza place he frequents just down the street from school, the first thing that pops out of his mouth is “How are you?”--the first phrase he learned.

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In class, Hernani is treated like the patriarch of the 65 or so students, Edwards said. Though he is sometimes forgetful, leaving his cane at the bus top and glasses on the school tennis courts, the respect for Hernani is apparent through efforts the students make to help him out by fetching his belongings.

“We respect him a lot because he is dedicated to learning English despite his age,” said classmate Cristina Valladares.

Gilberto and Lilia call themselves dos viejitos, two old people, who are young at heart. And as long as he stays young at heart, Hernani plans to continue his English classes, stack years onto his six-year record and, of course, add each new year on his dictionary.