Editor’s Note:

     The print edition of this article mistakenly ran with a sub-headline reading “Suddenly I feel as though I’ve lost two years of my life.”  This was NOT intended for this article; it was intended to run with a Sports opinion piece on page 11.
     This is a grievous error that I am ashamed to say somehow slipped past not only the staff member laying out the page, but also those of us who proofread the page for errors.
     As Editor-in-Chief, I wish to submit my sincerest apologies to those involved in the ESOL program.  Myself, and the rest of us at The Skyline View, believe that the ESOL program is a wonderful way for non-native students to receive the best education they can, and we did not mean to imply in any way that it is a waste of time.
     Again, we extend our sincerest apologies to anyone involed in the ESOL program – we hope that nobody will be mislead by this error, and we will strive to ensure that nothing of this magnitude happens again.

     -Andrew Lidwell, Editor-in-Chief

Skyline College is an institution of education mixed with a mosaic of cultural diversity.  Part of the reason for this relates to the ESOL program coordinated by Leigh Anne Sippel.  Students from almost every continent come to Skyline to gain experience in learning to speak and write the English language.

      Students come from “China, Burma, Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Mexico, and many other Latin American countries,” so there is always a “diversity of thought” among students, mentions Sippel.

    The ESOL program here is “excellent” according to many students who are taking it.  One challenge that arises is communication between student and teacher.  It’s very difficult to understand someone who doesn’t speak or speaks very little English.  Anyone who has visited a non-English speaking country has probably experienced such a scenario. 

    At Skyline we are fortunate in having multilingual teachers like Sippel, who speaks “basic French, German, Czech, and is currently taking Arabic.” 

     Lesbia Duarte, a student at Skyline, immigrated to the United States to avoid political upheaval.  As a Nicaraguan native, she came to the United States in 1982 due to the Communist Revolution that took place.  She plans to return to her homeland “to visit only” and enjoys working at Skyline, helping other students whose primary language is Spanish. 

     Duarte mentions that the great thing about ESOL tutors here is that “they help students comprehend the material when it’s difficult.”

    ESOL tutors are available in the back corner of the learning center in room 5110.  They’re available to help students with homework, writing, listening, speaking, and pronunciation.  Right now they’re a small department in the learning center but they plan on expanding to the room adjacent in the fall semester.

    “At Skyline we have very capable instructors who help students achieve their goals” said Boniek Almeida, an ESOL student from Brazil.

   Of course, living elsewhere away from one’s native country means having to grow accustomed to the new, dominant culture.  This process can take time, patience, and much effort. 

   Mirkena Wahlberg from Albania mentions that “you have to be open-minded” when trying to adapt to another culture, but “my cultural roots are a part of who I am.”

    It’s very customary in Latin American countries to greet someone by “kissing them on the cheek,” mentions Almeida, whereas, in America, people don’t do that.  Americans tend to be more “uptight” in social occasions, or when meeting new people compared to Latin American countries.

   In Latin American countries people are more “friendly to strangers” and are very “outgoing.”

    In the fall semester Skyline will have an English Learning Institute to “provide ESOL students lingual support to help them understand better our educational system and how it is different from the one in their native country” said Sippel.

    The cultural community at Skyline continues to prosper as more international students integrate their customs to coalesce and add to our mosaic of cultural diversity, and along with these transformations our faculty will be ready to equip them with the necessary tools in succeeding.