Harvard

	Phillips Brooks House Association Harvard University
c/o Phillips Brooks House Cambridge, MA 02138 chtnesl@hcs.harvard.edu
Chinatown ESL: Chinatown ESL is a volunteer organization at Harvard University that focuses on adult education for the immigrant Chinese population in the Greater Boston area. The goals of our program are: to provide recent immigrants with the essential conversational English skills necessary for everyday survival, to provide more advanced students with English skills that will allow them to obtain better jobs, to direct recent immigrants towards resources available in the community, to promote an understanding of American culture, and to increase volunteer awareness of the Chinatown community and the linguistic and cultural barriers faced by Chinatown residents. To meet these goals, we offer free, year-round English as a Second Language classes at Harvard University. Chinatown ESL has expanded enormously in recent years: this semester we are offering 30 classes for eight weekends each, with 61 volunteers teaching approximately 500 students. Our classes are held Saturdays and Sundays, mornings and afternoons. We offer five levels of instruction, from beginner to advanced.
Our Teachers: Chinatown ESL is completely staffed by student volunteers, mostly Harvard undergraduates but also some graduate students and staff members, as well as students from MIT and Wellesley; in the past there have also been volunteers from Tufts and Boston University, as well as occasional Harvard alumni. About half the volunteers are bilingual in Chinese and English, and many have had personal experiences with ESL and the immigrant experience.
Our Students: Our students, adults, ages 20 to 80, range from illiterate laborers to doctors and professors and businessmen. For most of our students, this program is their only opportunity for English instruction, their only reliable source of assistance in navigating the complexities of daily life in America. The ever-growing popularity of our program- students come from as far away as New Hampshire and Cape Cod- evidences a great need for ESL instruction in the immigrant-Chinese community. Because we hold classes on the weekends, we are able to serve students who, after a long work-day, are unable to attend the established weekday-evening classes offered through government agencies and community centers. We have an open enrollment policy, requiring only that students register in person and take a short placement test at the beginning of the term; in addition, we ask for a $5 donation to help defray photocopying expenses. We are proud to be able to provide the services that we do, and we are committed to addressing the challenges of fulfilling such a great need.
Chinatown Citizenship: Our sister program, Chinatown Citizenship, offers instruction in American history and civics as well as oral interview practice to help prepare recent immigrants for their naturalization exam. During the summer, Chinatown ESL and Chinatown Citizenship run as one program, with the same volunteers teaching both types of classes.
For more information: Please email chtnesl@hcs.harvard.edu for more information about the Chinatown ESL program.