Living Life in a Foreign Language

Manit Kaushal moved from India and Singapore in September 2016. He speaks a plethora of languages, including Hindi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, English and French. While Kaushal was learning English in India and Singapore, it was British English he was learning, not American English, which presented itself as a challenge for him. “This year, I am in AP Government. AP Government uses a lot of American Engl...

Mrs. Alison Reifenberg teaches all of the students in the ELL program. She attended Loyola University originally to get her degree in secondary education as well as English. That is, until her mom suggested she look into getting a certificate to teach English as a second language. “I went for it, and I really enjoyed the classes. I enjoyed the clinical work we had to do,” Mrs. Reifenberg stated. ...

Angie and Mark Baquiran moved to Libertyville two years ago from Batanes, a city in the northern part of the Philippines, where they spoke Ivatan, the language of their island, and Tagalog, the language of the Philippines. Their uncle, who has lived in the U.S. for 26 years, convinced their father to come to Libertyville for “opportunities and better education,” shared Mark. Since their arr...

Cristina Tuduripoza moved to Libertyville in August from Spain. Prior to her move, Tuduripoza had much more exposure to English than many of her ELL classmates, which helped her transition smoothly. “I learned English, and I traveled to Canada and Ireland to learn more English. I was pretty comfortable [speaking English] when I came,” explained Tuduripoza. While Tuduripoza is becoming incre...