English Conversation Continues In Queens
BY AUSTIN H. ARMITSTEAD

Co m m u n i t y U n i t e d

M e t h o d i s t

Church, under the leadership of Dr. Ronald Tompkins, still reaches out to serve the needs of its membership and the needs of Jackson Heights and the surrounding communities.

Volunteers from the church and community residents are enlisted when students sign up for the English Conversation Program spring semester, which starts March 27. Interested prospective volunteers can call the church at 718-446-0690.

Each Monday and Wednesday 50 adults gather to improve their English language skills with the English Conversation Program at Commuity Church. Each semester consists of 12-weeks, twice weekly, 90-minute sessions. This innovative program has three levels- Introduction, Level 1 and Level 2 Intermediate.

With some orientation and excellent workbooks, volunteers from many walks of life team teach the sessions and students make obvious progress. It's particularly exciting to see students advance from the introductory level and keep returning until they are able to graduate from level two. We even have stories of graduates return

ing to tell of new job opportunities that come with more fluency in English.

The story of English conversation in Queens has three chapters, the past, starting in the '70s through the '90s. A new century starts the latest chapter.

In the late 1970s Community United Methodist Church became one of the first churches in Queens to establish a multi-language, multicultural program and began to explore ways of making newcomers welcome in their new surroundings.

Lockie Wall, a member, wanted to help people get acquainted with new residents who came from many lands. Over the course of time she enlisted many volunteers to help new residents converse in English. After Lockie retired to Baltimore, Maryland, Aquila Yagoda followed her. She, too, poured out her energies with her volunteers.

In the 1980s and '90s Joanna Hofman, who had earned a doctorate in her field, met with success with her skills and devotion as a registered nurse. When the pastor thanked her for the imaginative ways she worked with volunteers and students, she would always give credit to others for their service in the English Conversation Program in Community Church.

We recall her relation with the Reverend Kathleen Clark, one of the teaching volunteers who professionally served in the Global Ministries of the Community United Methodist Church, nationally, internationally and locally. Applicants as teachers or students were not required to list their religious affiliation. Students were encouraged to speak English at home and to watch television, read newspapers and magazines and then talk about them at their sessions. The students were to do most of the talking and the tutor's job was to ask questions and promote discussion.

A church that historically began with other languages, located in one of the most diversified communities in our country still continues to find opportunities to serve God's people in amazing and challenging ways.