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[Music under]
[Student speaking Mandarin]
[Student speaking Arabic]
[Student speaking May May]
[Student speaking Spanish]
[Student speaking Russian]
[Student speaking Mandarin]
Batula: My family came to Kenya when I was two years old,
and they ran from Somalia because there was a civil war
and people shooting/killing…
Ricardo: We were not rich. We were poor but we were happy so that really…
Suzan: I was sleeping - we all were sleeping at night when the war started.
Some of my friends I had, they were in school, they died
‘cause my school was bombed.
Shengnan: If you want to live in America you have to work.
So, my English was not so good.
Instructor Mike: We have students come into MAP with very diverse backgrounds.
Some have come from war-torn countries; others coming from extreme poverty,
others never made it out of elementary school and have lived in refugee camps,
have lived in war-torn countries and have had to literally run for their lives.
When they get here, they’re all facing a similar challenge
and that is just the basic ability to express themselves.
Batula: Ooh. [CHUCKLES] When I came first time to the United States,
it was really difficult for me.
All the friends that I knew I left them back in Africa.
So like when I came here
it was really hard for me because like I don’t see no people –
and I mean like you cannot communicate the language.
Ricardo: I was in a new world. I didn’t understand any word in English.
I didn’t speak a word in English. It’s really hard to describe the feeling
when you think about your hometown and you think that you cannot go back there
because it’s too far away.
Resource Specialist Mathilda: A typical MAP student comes from overseas,
is confused, is scared, is uncertain of their future.
The students don’t know what it’s like to be in America.
They cannot speak the language. Some of them have big hopes
and dreams to be successful in college. But they’re not to think
because of the language barrier.
Instructor Mike: MAP offers academic English classes.
There are also supplemental classes in vocabulary building and life skills.
There is also a high level of student support through the Resource Specialists
and in that support they get counseling to help keep them in the college
and further their academic career or vocational careers,
and all of this is paid for through the school district
so it comes at no cost to the student themselves.
Resource Specialist Mathilda: Students who come from the high school will tell me
that they learn so much faster and more in this program.
This program is not only for ESL but for them to be successful as a person,
to establish them in this society, to help them to go beyond ESL.
Olga: Nobody speaks English well so you’re not shy,
you do not feel bad that your English is not perfect. And we were equal
and it was easy to be in this program.
Shengnan: In this country the official language is English.
If I don’t speak English, it’s so hard to get around in this country,
so hard to work, so hard to make friends.
Olga: Because I know English I feel more freedom. I can go anywhere I want
and almost everybody understands me—what I want and what I need and what I ask.
Batula: It is really amazing. I cannot even imagine how it happened to me.
There was like someone who was helping me and now I’m here today.
I’m helping someone. So it is really great and I’m proud of myself.
Olga: I think MAP changed my life because my English became better
so if I know English better my life is better in America.
Suzan: MAP program really changed my life.
When I came here like I didn’t know how to speak English.
Now I learn so much and it was really helpful and I got my first job here
and they told me my English was really good.
Ricardo: I want to study. I want to have a good education and help my mom.
Yeah, in that way I will not be like my father
and I will not work like a slave for the rest of my life like my father does.
I don’t know how crazy this is but I feel like my life changed since I started MAP.
I mean, I don’t think I would have been able to do this without MAP.
[Music]