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A world of words

LINDA CONNER LAMBECK lclambeck@ctpost.com

Connecticut Post Online

The problem was algebra.

The words Bassick High School student Guythelle Pierre, 19, and teacher Lesly Joseph exchanged to make sense of the numbers and letters on the board were in Haitian Creole.

More accurately, Haitian Creole interspersed with an occasional "because," "right" and "OK."

"I try to make the content material comprehensible," Joseph said in an accent that 40 years living in the United States hasn't managed to erase.

Waiting their turn for native language assistance with science, literature and American history assignments were six other Haitian students.

"U.S. history is the hardest," confessed Yves Pierre, 17, a sophomore and one of 24 Haitian students at the Bridgeport school.

Across the hall, in a classroom dubbed the New Arrival Center, students from a dozen nations spend their first few weeks learning the basics of English conversation.

"The first thing I do is say, 'Hello,' and shake their hands. It's universal. Sometimes, I go to the door and come back in if they don't understand," said teacher Stella Dennis, a native of Ghana, whose English accent is British.

From the blackboard behind Dennis hang quilts with squares made by students from Afghanistan, Vietnam, Chile, Egypt, India, Congo and dozens of other nations.

They represent 3,114 students in kindergarten through 12th grade served by the English Language Learner programs in Bridgeport's public schools. That's 14 percent of the city's student body.

In all, 70 languages other than English are the first ones students attending Bridgeport schools learned to speak, said Yvette DeFeo, Bridgeport's director of bilingual education.

Spanish and Portuguese are the most predominant foreign tongues. On the other end of the spectrum, there are students from Nigeria whose native language is Yoruba; from Liberia, speaking Mende, Mandingo or Kru; and from India, speaking Gujarati, Hindi or Urdu.

The type of language instruction students receive depends on their native tongue and what they know when enrolled in a city classroom.

For Spanish and Portuguese students at eight schools ? because there are 20 or more of them in the building ? there are bilingual classes, where instruction is given in both languages.

Students at 20 schools spend part of their day learning English ? in English as a Second Language (ESL) classes ? and the rest of their day attending regular classes taught in English.

At 11 schools, there is also native-language tutoring for students who speak Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian and Kurdish ? primarily because the district found qualified instructors in those languages.

"We were lucky to find Mr. Joseph," DeFeo said of the district's Haitian Creole tutor, who splits his time between Bassick High School and Longfellow School. "He's been with us eight years."

Joseph, who had to learn English himself 40 years ago as a 17-year-old immigrant, describes English as a tough language to master.

American high school students, he added, seem to have no trouble picking up a word or two in Haitian Creole.

"Generally, they are interested in learning the words they should not know," he said, before turning to answer a question from Marie Belle, 14.

A freshman from the French-speaking African nation of Gabon, Belle needed an answer to a question about an English assignment in a language she could understand. Haitian Creole and French are similar.

Bridgeport's language trends coincide with national immigration waves. In the late 1970s and '80s, immigrants came from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. In the 1990s, students arrived from the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The late '90s brought refugees from Iraq.

"Now, I would say there's an influx of students from Central and South America, and Africa, specifically the Congo," DeFeo said.

The district makes projections of the foreign-language speakers expected to enroll, but often discovers the trends when students show up for class.

"English-language learners face many challenges," said Supt. of Schools John Ramos. "However, we embrace and celebrate our students' cultural and linguistic diversity, and do so effectively even with the limited financial resources available to us."

Although the numbers of new immigrants has slowed considerably since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Myra Oliver, director of the Bridgeport-based International Institute, said 800 to 900 refugees from around the world are likely to settle in Connecticut this year.

The International Institute is one of 10 agencies in the nation that works with the U.S. Department of State on immigration issues. That's one reason so many refugees move here.

Other immigrants come here for jobs, educational opportunities, or because relatives are already here.

To serve such a diverse group, students new to Bridgeport schools are tested to determine their English-comprehension skills.

Some already have a fair command of English. Others have none. A few, from war-torn countries, come with interrupted or no schooling whatsoever.

"So we really have to start from the basics," said DeFeo. "It takes a different amount of time for everyone."

At Luis Munoz Marin School, teachers Lisa Ostrander and Bianca Rivera split a class of fifth-graders during the reading period, based on ability to speak English.

Those with a fair command of English are led by Rivera in discussing the theme of a story ? summarizing and making predictions ? the way a native English speaker would.

Ostrander gives the same lesson using simpler words to students whose English is not as good, getting them to identify the "problem" in the story. This group copies words Ostrander writes out for them. Their questions and her responses occasionally slip into Spanish.

Upstairs in another Marin classroom, a third group of fifth-graders work with teacher Jacqueline McDonald. There, the walls, door, clock ? everything ? is labeled like one might see in a kindergarten class.

"What will you write in your first box?" McDonald asks Jean Carlos Losanto, 10, pointing to a sentence that says, "My favorite food is pizza."

"My favorite food is pizza ? no chicken nuggets," answered Losanto, who moved from Puerto Rico a week earlier.

"Remember, the end of the sentence needs a period," McDonald tells the class as they start to fill in their worksheets.

Within a year of arriving, these students are required by federal law to be tested at grade level on the Connecticut Mastery Test, along with all other students.

Also in Marin's ESL classes are students from Cambodia, Africa, China, Poland, Ukraine and France.

McDonald can't speak any of those languages.

"You start with a smile," said Migdalia Bisch, assistant director of bilingual education and world languages for the district. "Then you start the ball rolling, one letter at a time, and build on it."

When possible, the district will pair a new student with one of the same language who has already mastered English.

At Columbus School, ESL teacher Ana Martins works with fifth-graders about to read the book "This Is Who I Am," about a girl named Maria who has just moved from her country to the United States. Around the table are Yaneli Gonzales, 11, Lourdes Barroso, 11, and Kevin Santos, 10, all from Mexico; James Milani, 10, from Brazil; and U.S.-born Mindy Phothirath, 9, whose father is Cambodian and mother Laotian.

"How does it feel when you begin school when you're from a different country?" Martins asked the group. The students call out "shy" and "scared."

"Maria feels the same things," Martins told them before circling the table so she could hear the students each "whisper read" the story.

District-wide, DeFeo oversees 67 certified bilingual teachers, 30 certified ESL teachers and 25 paraprofessionals in the English Language Learner program. Many ESL teachers double as tutors.

The bilingual programs, those offered when 20 or more students speak the same foreign language, are supported partially with federal and state grants. Connecticut's total bilingual appropriation for the 2005-06 academic year was $2,129,033. Of that, Bridgeport received $273,810, second only to Hartford.

In addition, the city has apportioned $4,885,000 for bilingual education in 2005-06, according to Richard Huot, director of business for the city schools. The district also received a U.S. Department of Education grant of $360,684 for its English language instruction.

"I think the bilingual program has helped a lot," said Donald Goodson, a career counselor at Harding High School. "They're [the students] just so focused and disciplined. The key is, they see opportunity in this country."

"All of them want to learn because they really want to go out and work and help their families," added Jackie Muniz, coordinator of Harding's 292-student bilingual program. "They have the knowledge. The only problem is, they don't know how to say it."

By the time he left Harding last spring for the University of Connecticut, Clarck Fleurgin was a member of the National Honor Society, taking advanced English and science courses.

Three years earlier, arriving from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he couldn't ask for directions in English. His native languages were Creole and French. Fleurgin credited the school's English Language Learners program with helping him survive and ultimately thrive.

"There's a lot of insecurity in my country," Fleurgin said. "We wanted to lead a life with much more opportunities. If I were still in my country, maybe I wouldn't be able to go to college."

In June, he graduated from Harding's Medical Careers Magnet program. He plans to study anesthesiology.

Sindy Folgar, another 2006 Harding graduate, arrived from Guatemala in December 2003. She described her first weeks as "really bad."

"I had to study in a different language, a different culture," Folgar said. "I said, 'I can't handle this.' " Eventually, Fleurgin said, teachers put her at ease. She left Harding as president of the school's National Honor Society chapter and secure about her communication skills. "Now, I'm really glad I came here," Folgar said. "I'm really glad they have this program. They really help you."

Carlos Marino, who graduated in June from Central High School, came to Bridgeport from Mexico City in September 2003 to live with his grandmother. He had studied English in Mexico and could understand the written word. Conversational English, however, seemed to pass him by at lightening speed.

Marion said Central's ESL classes helped him understand how Americans talk and now he can speak English very well.

"When people spoke, I could understand maybe two words in a sentence," Marino said., Correspondent

Felicia Hunter contributed to this report.