English Class Unites World of Diversity

With representatives from Germany, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Iran, El Salvador and Colombia, the gathering Thursday could have been a United Nations conference or the international arrivals terminal at Los Angeles International Airport.

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But the scene was a public school classroom in suburban Thousand Oaks, where immigrants were learning English at an adult school program that last year served 1,600 students from 32 countries.

It’s not just the huddled masses either.

While the classes include short-order cooks recently arrived from Mexico, they also include au pairs brought from Sweden by wealthy Westlake families.

Thursday morning, the students included Gisi Wirth, 47, a homemaker from Germany who came to America with her husband, an executive with the Audi automobile company.

Also studying English was Lourdes Williams, 28, who lived in Durango, Mexico, until two years ago when she met her husband, a Malibu construction contractor and rock singer. And May Yong , 37, a Hong Kong native who wrote letters to her boyfriend in America for 15 years before they finally married in 1990. Yong’s husband died of lung cancer just months after the couple were reunited, and Yong said she is taking the classes so she can speak English with their 4-year-old daughter.

“I like it. I think I can learn a lot of English from here,” Yong said.

While the affluent suburban surroundings may be unconventional, the immigrants in Thousand Oaks share experiences with Americans who arrived at Jamestown, Va., Plymouth, Mass., and Ellis Island, N.Y.

They came to escape violence, persecution and poverty, to find jobs, happiness and freedom.

Abdullah Mohammadi, 72, told his classmates that he is a retired auto mechanic who fled Afghanistan nine years ago because of the war there.

Hsien-yu Ming, 72, came to join his children, who graduated from American universities and stayed here. A doctor in his native Taiwan, he has no hopes of practicing medicine in the United States. He said he wants to make friends and to converse with his 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“I only hope to make myself happy and make other people happy,” he said. “If I want to make other people happy, I must know how to speak.”

The program has seen a drop in enrollment because of the ravages of the California recession and the Northridge earthquake, as well as fear induced by Proposition 187 and the end of an amnesty program for undocumented immigrants, Conejo Valley Adult School Principal David Woodruff said.

Still, Woodruff said the classes fill a crucial need.

“It’s one of the most important things we do,” he said. “If people are here, we’ve got a big problem if we don’t educate them, because they are going to be nonproductive citizens instead of productive citizens.”

The students seemed to agree. They spent the morning earnestly discussing cultural differences, describing pictures and learning about traffic tickets from a retired California Highway Patrol officer. Then, to mark the last day of summer classes, they surprised teacher Ruth Canfield with a bouquet of flowers and a thank you card.

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FYI

The free English as a Second Language classes for adults are offered in the mornings and at nights, and child care is available. For registration information, call 497-2761 or 497-4626.