[PW] learning English as a second language on-line

[Karen Weiss]

Go to the Librarians' Internet Index and search under

english second language

The URL is

http://www.lii.org/

Karen Weiss

On Oct 6, 2007, at 10:27 AM, Donna Halper wrote:

> A very dear friend and colleague of mine lives in Democratic Republic
> of Congo, an impoverished nation where government corruption and an
> on-going civil war have meant the schools are frequently closed
> because the teachers aren't getting paid, there's no money to buy
> books, etc.  My friend is an educator and a journalist, but he can't
> find work right now-- over 80% of those in his city (Goma) are
> unemployed as a result of the civil war.  Various international
> newspapers have written about it, and with some editing help from me,
> he wrote an essay for a newsblog describing the problems:
> http://hiram7.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/guest-editorial-the-congolese- 
> dilemma/
>
> You may ask, "Why are you telling us this?  We're librarians and
> researchers."  Well, yes, and that's why you are the perfect people
> to help my friend teach his family while the schools are closed--
> which, alas, they often are.  My friend's name is Fidel and he has a
> wonderful wife (Riziki-- I convinced her to go back to school too),
> as well as 4 of the world's cutest children, and he very much wants
> his family to learn English. Fidel speaks 4 languages fluently and
> has translated for a number of western newspapers.  But he needs
> resources, websites that are reliable and user-friendly, websites
> that you could recommend.  I did the usual google and ask.com
> searches, but I have never used any of these sites, so I don't know
> if they are any good.  Thus, my question:
>
> DR Congo is a former Belgian colony, so French is the language of
> instruction.  But in addition to bilingual websites, Fidel is seeking
> any websites that have English lessons for kids or for his
> wife.  Most of what he and I have found is aimed towards people who
> speak Spanish.  But even if the sites are not bilingual, do any of
> you know some websites that YOU would recommend for people eager to
> learn to read and speak English?  If a patron came to you and asked
> for advice, and there were no classroom courses available (here in
> Boston, there is often a waiting list to get into ESL classes), to
> what websites would you send that patron?  Thanks for helping, and if
> you want to see pictures of truly adorable kids studying from books
> my friends and I sent them, contact me off-list!  (They desperately
> need children's books too, but that's a conversation for another
> day.)  Thanks everyone for helping my friend and his family.
> _______________________________________________
> Project Wombat
> list at project-wombat.org
> http://www.project-wombat.org/
>