For at least two decades, St. Brendan’s in Franklin Park has offered adult ESL (English as a Second Language) classes in a program we call Conversation Friends.
As the name suggests, this program is not for those seeking a structured pedagogical approach to pronunciation, grammar or written English. Rather, we invite students to engage in informal conversation with our volunteer leaders and with one another on topics of broad interest. We do not charge a dime; we do not keep attendance; and students are free to drop in or out at any time. Our classes are offered exclusively on Zoom. Throughout a “program year” that runs from September 1 through May 31, we offer 90-minute classes at two levels that begin at 10:00 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and at 7:00 on Wednesday evenings.
At this time, we are looking for a few volunteers to join our 5-member team of class leaders. No prior experience, either as a teacher or in ESL, is expected (though of course we would welcome it!). Class materials from prior years are available and can easily be recycled–and our volunteers usually start out in any case by simply “sitting in” on classes to understand how we work with our students.
If you are even slightly interested, please contact Tim Austin at 508-688-9554 or austover@gmail.com. Joining Tim for a brief chat entails absolutely no commitment–and this may be just the opportunity you are seeking to meet a critical need among our beleaguered immigrant neighbors!