Greetings from ESL and Immigrant Ministries
Speak Easy
Newsletter from English as a Second Language and Immigrant Ministries
Fall 2017
New Member Programs

We are pleased to welcome our newest programs: All Souls Church Unitarian in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC, Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fairfax, Fairfax United Methodist Church, and Vienna Presbyterian Church. With the addition of these four programs, ESLIM has 22 locations in Northern Virginia and DC where we provide English classes for adults and welcome them to our community.   
Save the Date for Teacher Training

ESLIM will offer teacher training on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Fairfax. Lauren Lang will lead a session for new teachers from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and she will meet with returning teachers from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Watch the website ( www.eslim.org) for more details and RSVP instructions.
The "Table-Teacher" Method

by Judy Blanchard, Co-director, ESL Program at Fairfax United Methodist Church
Judyblanchard47@gmail.com
 
Our beginners' English class at Fairfax United Methodist Church is by far our largest, and definitely the most difficult to teach. No doubt, the same is true in your program.
 
In both the spring and fall of 2017, enrollment in what we call "A1" topped 40 students of different abilities and ethnicities, including many Hispanics and a smattering of Asians, Turks, Middle Easterners and our wonderful Uyghurs, many of whom speak Russian, Chinese, and Uyghur, but no English.
 
Allowing for attrition, A1 downsizes to about 30 students--still an unruly number for quality teaching. What to do?

Read more
Thank You...

...to Dulin United Methodist Church and Crossroads United Methodist Church for hosting our fall teacher training.

...to Lauren Lang for sharing her expertise and enthusiasm in our fall teacher training sessions.

...to Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, First Presbyterian Church of Arlington, Graham Road United Methodist Church, Leesburg United Methodist Church, and Mount Olivet United Methodist Church for their generous support. 
Three Ways to Help ESLIM

1.  Did you know you can assist ESLIM just by shopping online? Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible AmazonSmile purchases when you shop at smile.amazon.com. Simply search for "English as a Second Language and Immigrant Ministries" and select it as your charity.

2. Your donation to ESLIM helps us reach out to prospective students and train volunteer teachers. It also allows our member programs to spend more on essentials such as books and supplies. To donate via PayPal or find instructions for mailing a check, please visit our website.      

3. ESLIM participates in the Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area. Please designate #60490.

About ESLIM

We promote and support the teaching of English to adult immigrants of all nationalities in Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia and welcome their active participation in our community.

To support the efforts of our member churches, ESLIM handles a variety of tasks in a centralized way. Its activities include the following:
  • Advertising for, placing, and training volunteer teachers
  • Advertising the English classes in foreign-language media
  • Maintaining a voice mail line in which calls can be returned in English and Spanish
  • Producing the Speak Easy e-newsletter two or three times per year
  • Maintaining a website that features the class schedule, a variety of resources for teachers, instructions for making donations, and information for churches considering an ESL ministry
ESL & Immigrant Ministries | office@eslim.org | www.eslim.org