Downey offers many opportunities for volunteer work, and here is one you may not know about. First, the qualifications (these are tough):Do you like people? Do you like talking with people? Do you speak English? Can you spare a little time on Thursday mornings? If you answered yes to those questions, you may be an ESL angel and didn't know it. Please read on. The advanced-level course in English as a Second-Language (ESL) at Downey Adult School needs a few more volunteers to act as "facilitators" in the classroom. A facilitator sits at a comfortable conversation table with a small group of the students. The instructor gives you a printed sheet with that day's topic and a bunch of interesting questions to get you started, and then you simply talk with these adult students, in English, to help them polish their new language skills. Many students in the class are parents, busy with families and jobs, but they are here every day to learn. Some have been in this country 20 years or more, some less than a month. Their native language might be Farsi or Thai or Spanish or Korean. But all are here for the same purpose: to learn one of the world's most difficult languages. And you can help so easily. Downey Adult School is on Woodruff Avenue at Imperial Highway with free parking. You would start Thursday, Sept. 10, 9-10:15 a.m. For more information, or to volunteer, please phone Debbie, the teacher, at (714) 609-2721, or Joyce, one of the volunteers, at (562) 928-4122. Thank you.

********** Published: August 28, 2009 - Volume 8 - Issue 19