Newark United Methodist Church offers free conversational English classes each week to residents around the area who want to practice speaking fluently.
Ruth Nicholls, church registrar, said the conversational English classes benefit the teachers and students equally.
"We feel we learn just as much as they do," Nicholls said.
The conversational English classes are offered on Mondays at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. and are open to anyone within the community, she said. Approxiamtely 10 to 15 students attend the classes each week.
Lisa Chieffo, associate director of the Center for International Studies and intstructor of the classes, said the staff is comprised of volunteers from the church and community. The teachers are not certified English as a Second Language instructors, but have experience in teaching.
This is the fifth year of the program, which exists because of motivation from the members of the church, Nicholls said. The classes are in session from September to May and two different levels are offered.
"Students are divided into two groups - level one and level two - with two to four teachers working together as a team to teach the lesson," she said.
Level one classes are designed for people who have difficulty holding conversations in English and need assistance with basic grammatical concepts, Chieffo said. Level two classes focus more on grammar and teach people how to read English.
Caroline Shortess, instructor at the church, said students at these classes learn vocabulary words that help them communicate in English with people around the area.
"This helps them with getting around town and how to shop," Shortess said.
The second-level students learn other important concepts for living in America, such as restaurant etiquette, Nicholls said.
At the beginning of the class, students come in and quickly take their seats in a small classroom inside the church. Each student has a name tag and everyone exchanges pleasantries.The teacher begins the class by asking the student to tell her about the definition of the word "icon."
Reneta, orginally from Poland and a student in the classes, immediately responded with an example of what she considered to be an icon.
"Mother Theresa is an icon for a good person," Renata said.
All the students were asked what icons are associated with in their native countries. Pierogies were mentioned for Poland, BMW's and Volkswagens were said to be icons of Germany.
The classroom is continuously filled with laughter and the students are busy taking notes and asking questions throughout each night.
"Most students in level two have had formal education and can read, but find book-reading does not serve them well," Chieffo said.
Most students taking these classes have taken or studied some English in their native countries, but their conversational skills lack fluency, Nicholls said. Students who have attended classes for several years may still have trouble conversing quickly and efficiently.
Students in the classes are from various countries, including China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan, she said. There are a handful of Spanish-speaking students.
Vilma Lucas has attended the classes for approximately two years and said she is originally from Guatemala. She began coming to the classes to help her communicate at work.
"Before I started coming, I didn't work, but now I work and everything about the class has helped me," Lucas said.
Chen Liang, originally from China, started attending the conversional English classes and said he has learned a lot.
Liang works at a software company in Newark and read an article on the community bulletin board about the classes and decided to begin attending the classes to practice his conversational skills.
"I already had learned seven years of English in middle school and high school, and still this class is a good experience and very interesting," Liang said.
Approximately half of the students are either university faculty or graduate students, Chieffo said.
Some of the students are also enrolled in classes at the university's English Language Institute and use the conversational English classes as a supplement, she said.
Susan Coakley, instructor at ELI, said the free classes at the Methodist church offer an alternative to classes that may be too costly at the university for some individuals.
"If people don't have a lot of time or money, it's a very good way to begin, to meet in groups with native speakers," Coakley said.
Shortess said she notices an improvement in the student's conversational skills from month to month. The classes are tailored to the students and the teachers are flexible with the material. The instructors teach the classes based on the interests of the students.
"We try to aim for what the students want to learn," she said.
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