Reflejos: Changing lives one at a time

South African activist and former President Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”

Our newspaper, Reflejos, a sister publication of the Daily Herald, can't change the whole world. But in providing important, bilingual material to Latino readers who live in the suburbs, we can help change their world for the better.

Reflejos' mission is to motivate, inspire and educate the Hispanic community through the written word.

For our immigrant Hispanic readers, that begins with learning English. In order for them to integrate into American society and to be able to advance in their jobs, it is important to master English.

To assist them, Reflejos is a bilingual publication. Each article is published in Spanish and English, although sometimes the full English version is only online at reflejos.com.

Several public schools, community colleges and universities in our coverage area — which spans eight counties — have been using Reflejos for several years as an educational tool in their English as a Second Language classes.

Marcela Guerrón, a native of Quito, Ecuador, who takes English as a Second Language classes at McHenry County College, says she finds Reflejos a very useful publication for immigrants who come to the United States knowing little or no English.

Her ESL teachers assign English-language articles for the students to read.

“They increase our vocabulary by learning new words,” Guerrón said. For an English word she doesn't understand, she turns to the Spanish version in Reflejos.

Gustavo Román of Huntley, who also has taken ESL classes at McHenry County College and is a regular reader of Reflejos, said the bilingual format is agile and very useful to practice reading and writing in English.

He especially likes the Reflejograma.

“The bilingual crossword in Reflejos is also a useful tool to learn words in English on different topics,” Román said. “I have learned new words. But I have seen other people who are determined to finish every crossword coming out every week.”

Mandela was right. We can help transform the world, one community at a time. We hope the journalism we do — in the bilingual format — can be a part of that.