Literacy Pittsburgh helps immigrants learn English, integrate

Oksana Slota knew only a few English words when she moved to the United States from Ukraine six years ago.

But she wanted to learn more. She wanted to be able to communicate with people in her new country. She wanted friends and to be able to help her children with the basics, like going to the doctor.

Through Literacy Pittsburgh’s English as a Second Language classes, she’s found just that.

“I feel better,” said Slota, 28, of Scott Township. “I started speaking, and I can help my child with things, like for example, making doctors’ appointments. It’s important for a mom.”

Twice a week, Slota and a group of women from nations across the world, including Syria, Venezuela and Tajikistan, gather at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie with Literacy Pittsburgh tutor Carol Logan to work on their English.

While some started with the basics, like learning the alphabet, the sessions focus on their individual needs.

“We’ve talked a lot about what being an American means,” said Logan, 71, of Upper St. Clair. “I’ve learned as much from them as they’ve learned from me.”

In Literacy Pittsburgh’s Parkway West region, the number of students receiving tutoring has grown from 60 to 200 in the past year, said Trisha Bandremer, area coordinator.

Tutoring services are offered in both English as a Second Language, that helps teach English to newcomers, and adult basic education, which offers high school equivalency reading and writing education.

About 50 volunteers provide tutoring services in the area that extends from the West End through Green Tree, Carnegie, Crafton and Moon, Bandremer said.

But there are still about 35 people on the waiting list to receive services.

“I need all that I can get,” Bandremer said of the need for more tutors.

The increased need for ESL tutors is driven by the rise in immigrant and refugee populations moving into the Greater Pittsburgh area, along with Literacy Pittsburgh now being the primary provider for basic skills and English language learning in the county, leaders said.

There also is a rise in the need for people qualified for middle skills jobs — jobs that can provide a middle-class income. This has led to an increase in students seeking high school equivalency reading and writing help.

The need stretches into the South Hills, where Jefferson program coordinator Jim Grabiak said he has as many students on the waiting list as he has enrolled in programs.

There are about 60 to 70 in each, being taught by seven tutors.

Many of the tutors are retirees, Bandremer said. Grabiak even has two in his area who are immigrants and have increased their level of skill in English so greatly that they are now teaching their peers.

“We hear from them, ‘I want to build a life here in this community. I want my family to be involved. I want to integrate,’ ” he said.

Schema Yohnes, 24, of Carnegie said the classes have helped bring her out of her shell.

“I was really shy. I couldn’t speak with people. I was stuck at home,” said the mom of two who moved to the United States from Syria four years ago.

She recently passed her driver’s test in English.

Logan proudly looks at her students as they share their stories. She’s been an important part of their journey.

She even went to the hospital with Yohnes when she was giving birth to her first son.

“I really consider them my daughters,” said Logan, a retired teacher from the Upper St. Clair School District. “When things started getting bad in the United States several years ago, I decided that I wanted to show people that Americans do care. That’s my goal. I want them to understand that.”

The ladies call Logan their “American mom.”

Their sessions not only teach them basic English, but what they need to know to tackle their daily lives, like how to say “hot dog.”

Logan even teaches them swear words. Not so they know how to say them, but so they know to tell their children that they’re saying a bad word, if they come home swearing.

“Carol has helped me a lot,” said Maria Bastidas, 31, of Oakdale who moved to the United States three years ago from Venezuela.

“We are here. We need to learn everything about you guys. It is really important for me to speak well so that I can communicate, that I can do things for myself,” Bastidas said.

Farzona Giesova, 30, of Bridgeville feels more confident taking her children to the doctor’s office now.

“I’m so happy,” said the mom of two who moved to the U.S. from Tajikistan 10 years ago.

“I’m proud of you,” Logan said. “You’ve done really well.”

All across the region, tutors are helping people.

Sewickley resident Miriam Rader, 58, has been tutoring a couple from Uzbekistan for the past three years. She also continues to help a mom from Syria who no longer takes the actual classes with learning English.

“I just get the love of interacting with people and learning about their cultures,” she said. “They’re so grateful.”

As the new year approaches, Literacy Pittsburgh is challenging people to give back by volunteering to tutor in the new year.

Introductory classes will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Jan. 6 at the Castle Shannon Library or 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Mt. Lebanon Library.

Tutors are required to go through nine hours of training and must be 18 or older and have a four-year degree or be working toward one.

For more information on how to volunteer, visit https://www.literacy pittsburgh.org/volunteers/.