Aberdeen: Caminando Juntos Offers English “On the Go”

Pictured above: English on the go students at the farmer’s market.

What better way to learn a language than in real situations, with real people? This was the premise behind Caminando Juntos’ recent English on the go class. Caminando Juntos, in conjunction with Reach Literacy, developed a hands-on conversation class that allowed English language learners to go out into the community and practice their language skills in six different settings … a coffee shop, the library, the farmer’s market, a bank, the bus stop and a museum.

Each lesson began by introducing students to the thematic vocabulary needed to have a conversation in each real-life setting, followed by discussion and roleplaying where students would practice a mini-conversation related to the situation (i.e. how to order in a coffee shop). The class then walked together to each location and practiced what they had learned in a real-world context. Students commented that classes were all unique and so much fun, because they were able to meet new people and experience new places in the community that they had never visited.  This is one unique way Caminando Juntos is trying to empower and educate Latinos living in our area.