Workforce Language Services

The Student Worker organization at CU is training students volunteers to work one-on-one with Spanish speaking staff to teach them English.  The program’s benefits are two-fold: it improves cultural sensitivity towards staff that doesn’t speak English, and helps Spanish speaking staff to gain language skills.  Nearly 48 percent of service and maintenance staff are Latino, but the university isn’t clear on how many of them only speak Spanish, as there are many positions in which it’s not necessary to speak English.  Currently this program is all volunteer, both for the tutors and the learners.  But the Student Worker organization is attempting to garner support from various departments so that ESL classes can become part of workers’ paid work schedule.

Despite the mention of a sometimes hostile and disrespectful environment, students have shown their interest and support:

“We’ve had an overwhelming number of students contact us interested in volunteering,” said Patrick Kelsall, 21, a junior sociology major and member of Student Worker. “We didn’t really expect it to be this popular.”

Student Worker uses the nonprofit organization Intercambio as a teaching resource for training students to tutor staff members. Intercambio works to build respectful communities and broaden opportunities for immigrants through language education.

Volunteers are required to go through four to six hours of training with Intercambio. They are given background information about program, and curriculum and tips for teaching English.

A Spanish background is not needed in order to provide English lessons to staff members, a Student Worker members said.

Read more here.