English Students Write About Their Experiences, Part I

Since the English classes were divided this September, the Enlace Project English School team has been working hard to meet students' needs, adjusting their lessons and activities to help the students advance and provide them with professional English skills.

More recently, the teachers asked students to write about their experience with Enlace Project in order to better understand how the English class helps them meet their own goals. Below, you will find some excerpts from the students:

"My experience here in Enlace Project has been very nice and I have learned a lot... I've learned to capture the sounds of the language [which] is the hardest thing for me. It has been interesting to me [to] interact with foreign people who come to help and... develop our language learning which is of great importance... [I want] To develop myself intellectually with better quality since it will help my career studying and socially in my relationship with teachers and classmates..."

-Keyslor José Calderón Conteno, Second Level

Students in the intermediate class, including Nelson Israel [front right]

"When I started to study English in Enlace [Project]... [it] was hard to understand... [Now] I understand better... the experience has been really good. Studying here helped me to get a job and now I'm working teaching English. I feel good about that and I hope to continue to study here because I like the methodology that they use."

-Nelson Israel, Second Level

"...Many doors have been opened for me since I started studying English, opportunities that were not only given to me for my profession, which is why I would like to thank my teachers and the Enlace Project team for giving me the opportunity to study English, share their experiences and teach us many important things about American culture"

-Henry Chévez Garcia, Third Level

Keyslor [front-left] and Geovanni [front-left].

"My goals in English are to be able to have a good job and to help my family... I would like to be able to become a teacher... [and] travel to another country. [English] is very important in my life, I think that learning English is something that will always be important, and I hope that at the end [of my studies] I will find a job where I can make some good money."

-Geovanni Quiroz, Second Level

There will be more stories posted in the future, keep looking for them!

Familiar Faces: Mauricio Martinez

For many people, Don Mauricio Martinez is the face of Ocotal. As the patriarch of the beautiful and ample mountain community, Mauricio cares for the land and often refers to the environment as if it were a lifelong friend of his. We sat down for an interview with Mauricio to find out more about his life and the community:

Sean: Thank you for speaking with me, Don Mauricio. Were you born in Ocotal?

Mauricio: No, I was born in El Jicote, a community about a kilometer from here. When I was growing up, no one lived in this area. I built a house here when I was around 30 years old. The guy who owned this land hired me to work in the community as a farmer, so I built a house here.

Mauricio during the construction of El Ranchón, the mountain's restaurant.
This land was donated courtesy of Mauricio.

S: What was your youth like? How would you describe Ocotal in those times?

M: My youth was healthy and normal; I never had problems or fights with anyone. I had two cousins who I lived with, and we spent time learning how to play the guitar, the mandolin. We would spend entire nights just playing music. I worked a lot, mostly as a farmer, harvesting sugar cane, corn, coffee, and beans. Ocotal, at that time, was suffering because many pine trees were affected by a disease. The trees were all dry, and many were falling. There was a lot of deforestation by lumber companies, both legally and illegally. That’s why we decided it was important to care for the forest. We've been protecting and caring for it for more than thirty years now.

S: What are the best qualities of Ocotal? What does Ocotal have that other areas in Nicaragua do not?

A beautiful view of part of Ocotal's pine forest.

M: The pine needle forests are truly amazing. We have amazing nature all around us, and they are important to take care of. The environment is what gives us life, water, and the air we breathe. We started to care for the land  with of the help of the Danish Development Project "Manuel Lopez" (which years later helped formed the Coffee Cooperative "Manuel Lopez"), who came an gave us tools. Now we are lucky enough to have the Los Altos de Ocotal cooperative, so that we can show others the beauty we have around us. The members of the cooperative are good people, and also care for the environment.

S: What are some difficulties that the community of Ocotal faces?

M: Some people still do not recognize the need for working with the environment instead of against it. Much of the mountainous area that is closer to the city is damaged. We also need to focus beyond plant life, to animals too. We have a lot of beautiful wildlife to be seen. There are many types of birds and animals in Ocotal.

Sean and Mauricio together in 2013.

S: What is your vision for the future of Ocotal? 

M: I hope that one day we can all be responsible for taking care of our community, that we can work together to live with the environment, because in the end it is what protects us. I also hope that the tourism cooperative will be able to show others the beauty of Ocotal and that they too can learn to value the natural environment. Too often, it is believed that we as humans should be separate from the wild when really we are just another part of it.

New English Schedule Encourages Progress and Participation

Students in Enlace Project's intermediate class, a full classroom!

Enlace Project's English School is working to meet the growing needs of a range of English students. As more students pass from the beginner's class, the advanced students have been divided into two groups. Formerly, students who passed their level one exam would move to the advanced class, which covered levels two through six, and was taught in English by a native speaker.

The new intermediate and advanced classes are both taught completely in English, but aim to focus more on the specific needs of students. The intermediate class covers levels two and three and focuses on conversation, pronunciation, and major grammar tenses; the advanced class focuses on more advanced and professional skills such as reading, writing, and syntax.

The goal of teaching English at Enlace Project is to help Sauceños develop a skill that they can use in job seeking as well as in their personal lives. When the program started five years ago, there was a huge desire in El Sauce for a convenient and affordable English class. The low price (an equivalent of $6/month) and class schedule (at night, so that those who work can study) allows for a variety of students to enter and participate in the class.

Luzvelia Sevilla, from the advanced class, teaching students from the
intermediate class.

The new class schedule hopes to appeal to all the students, allowing for a more specialized curriculum. Students study at their own pace through a series of books and arrive to the class for practice, review, and activities. Those who have just passed from first level to the intermediate class will find the activities more difficult, but easy to adjust to; the same applies for those who pass from the intermediate to the advanced class.

The most advanced members of the class are aiming high; all of the students in the new advanced class (and a few in the intermediate) have found jobs that require knowledge of the English language. The new classes give these students motivation to continue advancing and encouraging others to do the same.

Other events such as cultural celebrations, held twice a year to give the students a chance to use their English in the form of skits and songs, encourage students to have fun while learning. Students in the advanced class are also given the opportunity to prepare a lesson for the intermediate students, designing materials and activities to teach. By doing so, they are given the chance to develop professional skills that could serve them in their search for employment. As the advance class develops, students will also have the opportunity to develop additional skills, such as translation and interpretation.

--Written by Sean Conner, Enlace Project Intern

Students from Enlace Project English school perform a skit about Nicaraguan culture for
friends, families, and guests from SUNY Geneseo's Service Learning Program.