Night School Improvements

One of the great things I like about New York, is the amount of classes offered at night, usually in either the primary or high school buildings, giving people the chance to learn just about anything under the sun. Of the many courses offered, one of the more popular ones, is learning English as a second language.

With its huge immigrant population, of course, New York schools offer these classes to immigrants young and old. The best part is that not only do the people get to learn English, but also get to know their fellow immigrants from practically all over the world. So that you get the added bonus of learning about the varied cultures of your fellow students.

Some of my relatives came to New York as young adults, and of course, eagerly signed up for these classes, so that they could learn the language and as they quaintly put it: "make it in New York". As they were not familiar with the area and frankly were afraid to venture out at night alone, I was their guide, and basically sat in (at the back of the classroom). 

It was really fun to listen to them trying to learn American slang talk. More often than not, they would mix up the expressions, and the results were really funny. However, I must praise the teacher, he really did a good job of keeping a straight face, and not making fun of his students, or acting condescending towards them. On the contrary, he was actually respectful of the different backgrounds the people had come from, and even tried to have them teach him a bit about their cultures and traditions.

 I mention this, because too many times I had seen teachers, in the same school, in other English as a Second Language classes, behave horribly towards these new arrivals to our city. Treating them as if they were not intelligent human beings, but silly children, who had to be talked down to. 

Many a times, I made a mental note to write to the school about this or that teacher who shouldn't have been teaching to foreigners because the teacher had a bias against them. I mean, it's one thing to be proud of your country, but quite another to demean a person just because they are recent arrivals to it. 

My relatives eventually got their certificate, and were able to get into the regular schools, and then the universities. And they were always grateful to these night schools for their help, at a budget price, in opening the doors to improving themselves and their opportunities.