Literacy DuPage needs volunteers to teach English

Sang Yup Lee was born in South Korea but grew up near Seattle.

"I was an immigrant," he said. "I came to this country when I was 7."

Knowing very little English, Lee found school difficult until help arrived.

Private tutors helped him and his mother navigate the complexities of learning basic English.

With their help to overcome the challenges arising from the language barrier, he went on to earn a law degree.

Lee often tells his story at the beginning of orientation sessions for volunteers with Literacy DuPage, a nonprofit organization that helps adults who want to learn to speak, read and write entry-level English.

As volunteer outreach coordinator for the Lisle-based organization, Lee leads orientation meetings with volunteers nearly every month. The most recent was in early January in Glendale Heights; the next is set for Jan. 23 at the Downers Grove Public Library.

"Ninety percent of the people we serve are parents," Lee said. "Most want to learn English to help their kids."

In addition to helping their children learn English, parents need to effectively communicate with educators and medical professionals, he said, and tutors give them the tools to do that.

"We serve about 500 adult learners each year. We have about 400 volunteers," said Bernie Steiger, executive director of Literacy DuPage.

The core of the program, she said, is one-on-one tutoring offered to learners at a mutually agreeable location, such as a public library, cafe or park district facility.

Because many students also face transportation and child care issues, the group offers flexible scheduling for lessons, which generally occur during two-hour weekly sessions.

Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Urdu and several Eastern European languages are among learners' native languages, she said.

All volunteers go through an 18-hour training session.

"We teach them how to design customized lesson plans," Steiger said.

Volunteers need not have any background in their students' native tongues.

"The best volunteer is somebody who has the desire to help a neighbor," Steiger said.

Lee said students often have a specific goal in mind when they come to Literacy DuPage. Some are working toward earning citizenship or preparing for a driver's test. Others want to better serve their business clients and customers.

"Our mission is to help adults achieve their goals through customized tutoring," Lee said. "We don't teach tutors a formal curriculum."

For the past two years, retired guidance counselor Barb Langfeld of Romeoville has been a Literacy DuPage volunteer.

She's currently tutoring her fourth and fifth students, a married couple from Bolingbrook whose first language is Spanish.

Her own familiarity with Spanish is rudimentary.

"I can count to 10," she said.

In their mid-30s, Langfeld said the husband is concerned about improving communications with his business associates. His wife, a stay-at-home-mom, has fewer opportunities to interact with English-speaking community members, so she is especially in need of basic tutoring.

Both are interested in helping their two school-age children and their toddler succeed in school.

Langfeld said she communicates with her students by using techniques she learned in the organization's training sessions.

"The training is wonderful. You begin with the very basics of names," she said.

First, there's an emphasis on basic vocabulary, and later conversational phrases are introduced.

"We start with things that are known so that they get confident. We just practice. At some point, it sort of clicks," she said.

Steiger said Literacy DuPage serves adults who have no alternative means of learning English.

"We serve those folks that have no other options. That is our focus," she said.

About 90 percent of the organization's clients are learning English as a second language; the other 10 percent are people born in the United States who need help with reading and writing, she said.

Lee cited an example of a retired cabdriver, who grew up speaking English, but who wanted to learn to use a computer so he could write his memoirs as a keepsake for his children.

"He really wanted to leave his legacy behind," Lee said. "We're grateful to be part of his story and helping him do that."

There is no charge for tutoring; volunteers are asked to pay $25 to cover the cost of training and training materials.

Lee said potential clients are asked about their earlier efforts to learn English. They are also asked about their goals.

"I know firsthand to focus on specific skills an adult needs," said Lee, who began his relationship with Literacy DuPage as a volunteer tutor.

"We don't require our tutors to have any foreign language experience or any kind of teaching background," he said.

Volunteers are asked to commit to at least two hours of tutoring per week for at least six months, he said.

Most volunteer tutors, he said, are in their 40s, 50s and older.

"We're trying really hard to get more millennials involved," he said.

The need for more volunteers is great, Steiger said.

"We have a wait list of about 300 people in DuPage County right now," Steiger said. "We are desperately in need of volunteers."

Though she's 18 months past her initial commitment with the group, volunteer Langfeld said she plans to continue. She said she relishes the opportunity to help people communicate in English.

One of Langfeld's previous learners was a woman from Serbia.

"Her main goal was to get citizenship," she said.

She learned quickly. She started her lessons in November and by May had become a U.S. citizen.

"I've been very lucky. All of my students have been very motivated," Langfeld said. "We laugh a lot. We have a lot of fun and enjoy each other. I find it extraordinarily fulfilling."

For more information about Literacy DuPage, visit www.literacydupage.org or call (630) 416-6699.