Literacy work helps arrivals develop bond

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There are some Lincoln residents who wish immigrants would be quicker to learn English. In fact, some are angered by the sight of another language on storefronts or on ATMs.

There are other Lincoln residents who enjoy the lilt of another language when they’re out and about. They welcome immigrants who make the community more interesting and varied.

You might think these two elements in the community could never find common ground.

You’d be wrong.

They both can support the Lincoln Literacy Council.

Almost unnoticed, the local nonprofit organization supported by local donations and using local volunteer tutors has become a major resource for immigrants who want to learn English.

The demand is huge. In the year that ended June 30, the literacy council served 805 adults. Ninety-two percent of those were people who were learning English, according to Executive Director Clayton Naff.

That included 287 Hispanics, 128 Middle Easterners, 124 Africans, 113 Asians and 80 Eastern Europeans.

Helping the new immigrants learn English were 262 volunteers who provide both one-on-one and small-group tutoring. The literacy council also offers special programs in citizenship, computer skills and entrepreneurship and provides information, advice and referral on jobs, education and health care.

Although some of the more strident voices in the debate over immigration claim that the current wave of immigrants have little desire to learn English, there is scant evidence to support that assertion.

“The assimilative power of American society is overwhelming,” concluded researchers who studied immigrant parents and their children over 10 years. In fact, Ruben G. Rumbaut and Alejandro Portales said, about two-thirds of immigrant children want to speak only English, abandoning their parents’ language.

By helping recent immigrants learn English, literacy council volunteers and staff benefit the community in many ways. For example, in a city where the unemployment rate is below 3 percent, employers need workers with essential English literacy. Knowledge of English is vital in emergency situations involving police, firefighters and others.

As board president Brett Harris pointed out, “In a community where more than 60 languages are spoken, it’s not enough to try to hire staff who are bilingual. We need to ensure that everyone in our city knows English.”

When the Lincoln Literacy Council was started in 1972, its mission was to combat adult illiteracy among longtime Americans. Now its mission is broader. Polls show about three-fourths of Americans believe that speaking English as a common language helps unite all Americans. The literacy council’s work strengthens that bond.