Our Mission Statement

The mission statement of the Summer ESL-er is the same as that of the term time ESL-er: to educate the immigrant, working-class residents of Chinatown in basic, conversational English, for the purpose of giving them the ability to interact with the American world outside of the Chinatown community. This is very exciting because we are working with the bread- (or in this case, rice!) earners of the family, who have more immediate need for the use of the English language. As a result, all of our students are enthusiastic about learning whatever you have to teach them, and diligent about attendance. This is also very challenging because many of our students have never been formally educated before, and are sometimes even illiterate in their own language.

What We Do

Basics

Like the term time ESL-er, we go to Tufts Medical School in Chinatown every Saturday and Sunday morning to teach English to our students. Classes run from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Each teacher has the option of teaching a class of about 15 by themselves, or with a co-teacher. Teachers are responsible for making up a lesson plan with his/her co-teacher beforehand.

Levels

Our students are placed into four different levels, ranging from not understanding a word of English (level 1), to refining their English skills with grammar correction and pronunciation (level 4). We even have a class devoted to teaching students to pass the GED (level 4b)! As a result, you do not need to know Chinese to be a good ESL teacher.

Getting to Class

We meet at the T-station at 9:45 a.m., then head over to Tufts Medical School together. Although we get there a bit early (at about 10:15), already there are many of our students waiting outside of Tufts or in the classrooms, eager to begin the day's lesson! We go to our classrooms and begin the two-hour lesson.

Saturday Routine

On Saturdays after class, the teachers have an hour lunch break together in one of the delicious, inexpensive restaurants Chinatown is renowned for. Then at 1:30 p.m., we head back over to Tufts to teach the Immigration and Naturalization Prep Course (see page) to teach many of our same students the basics to passing the test to becoming a U.S. Citizen. This class runs from 1:30 to 3:30. Afterwards, we call it a day and all head back to Harvard together.

Office Hours

Summer ESL-ers are also responsible for holding office hours for their students. This is a good way for teachers to reinforce the ideas they taught during class, as well as to clear up any misunderstandings the students may have had over confusing topics. Slower students may also take advantage of this time to relearn class topics with their teachers. In addition, students may ask the teacher for their help on learning other topics not covered in class. For example, a student may be preparing for a job interview, and would like to learn the type of conversation they are expected to hold with their perspective employers.

Summer Projects

Summer ESL also allows our program to complete projects that would improve our term time program. This year, we had three committees, each responsible for a different project. Among the things we've tackled are putting together basic curriculum guides for each of the four levels, an audio tape library for each of the four levels, organizing for the Chinatown Benefit Concert in the fall, and the Chinatown webpage.

Perks

The Chinatown ESL Program is vastly rewarding. Materially, all teachers get housing for the summer with Phillips Brooks House. More importantly, however, you get a real sense of connecting with your students, since they are seriously interested in learning, in what you have to teach them about this American life that is so foreign to them, and about you! Many of our volunteers have said that doing this program have made them so much more aware of the Chinatown community, an oft-overlooked part of Boston. Your students adore you for your commitment, and best of all, some of them bring you food to show their appreciation!

Applying

Since most of the teaching will take place on the weekends and the meetings at night, volunteers can easily hold down a full time summer job on top of participating in this program.

Directors

We are looking for two co-directors, responsible for running the program on top of regular teaching duties. Directors must be term time teachers that have a good idea of how the program runs. This takes about 25 hours a week. Of course, directors get free housing from PBH.

Teachers

We need about 15 teachers. They will be responsible for the teaching duties outlined above, as well as specific committee work. delegated by the directors. Teachers also receive free housing from PBH. Duties add up to about 20 hours of work per week.

Tutors

Tutors are volunteers that usually teach only one class a week. They are responsible for lesson plans and teaching their class only. The time commitment is much less (at most, about 4 hours per week), but they do not receive free housing.

Questions?

Please contact chtnesl@hcs.harvard.edu for more information.