Immigrants come to this country from every corner of the earth looking to make better lives for themselves. But, as many find out, not knowing English can become a great roadblock in their path to success.

Greenfield Community College is striving to help local immigrants get on their way to better jobs and more education by now offering English language courses both in the morning and evening so that everyone who wants to take the courses can, regardless of whether they work day jobs or second shift.

Kit Carpenter, department chair for the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Department, said that GCC is committed to making these classes more accessible to the community and to increasing the use of technology in classes to help students hear and use more English and make faster progress. "We are trying to expand access to people who need to continue to study English and brush up on English skills," Carpenter said.

Zoraida Agudelo is a graduate of the ESOL program and went on to complete four certificate programs and two associate's degree programs at GCC. Originally from Colombia, Agudelo moved here 20 years ago, but didn't take English courses until 1999 after she left a note on Carpenter's door stating that she "must learn English. "The program is a wonderful program. It helped me to first of all learn the language and overcome fear to talk and to interact with other people in a second language," Agudelo said "I love it; it was a wonderful program. For me GCC was like my second home for four years." Agudelo now works for a local nonprofit helping women who are in domestic violence or sexual abuse situations.

This fall GCC is offering a new evening section of ESL 110 (computer skills) and a non-credit course in TOEFL preparation. International students, who have come to the U.S. to study, must pass the TOEFL, which stands for Test of English as a Foreign Language, in order to attend many college and university programs. GCC offers three levels of ESOL and a part-time bridge level to college programs. Courses include speaking, listening and pronunciation; reading and vocabulary; grammar and writing. Not all classes are offered each semester, but students who go through all the levels successfully can attain proficiency in English that is high enough to take other courses at GCC or another college. Computer classes are also offered for speakers of other languages. Carpenter said there is an exciting mix of people from many different countries taking ESOL classes at GCC. The classes are small and taught by experienced teachers to give students the best opportunity to learn. This fall, GCC classes start on Sept. 5 and include the following ESOL courses:

An eight-week computer class, Fridays from 11:00 a.m. until 1 p.m., and the new full-semester computer class on Monday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. · Intermediate/upper intermediate evening classes in speaking/listening on Mondays, grammar on Tuesdays and reading/vocabulary on Wednesdays · The new non-credit TOEFL Preparation workshop lasting ten weeks, Thursdays from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. beginning Sept. 20. · Day classes in reading, writing, pronunciation/spelling and grammar, in the Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the Tuesday, Thursday schedules. For more information about the fall ESOL course schedule or to register for classes, please call 775-1809 or 775-1840.