TYLER, Texas — Some students are showing the community it’s never too late to learn a new language as an East Texas church has stepped up to help Spanish speakers learn English with a nonprofit's assistance.
The Grace en Español English as a Second Language program has been offering free ESL classes for eight years, Melissa Russell, program coordinator, said. Grace en Español is the Spanish-speaking ministry of Grace Community Church in Tyler.
"Year-by-year, it’s just grown, and grown and grown," Russell said.
Russell said the program offers classes from beginner to more advanced through a course of five levels.
When the program first started, the class had about 14 students each.
Now, fast forward almost a decade later, the classes have about 40 to 45 students each. One of those students is Oscar Mendoza who has been in the Grace en Español program for five years.
Mendoza came to the U.S. from Guanajuato, Mexico eight years ago.
"It’s scary because you don’t know any words in English. So that’s scary," Mendoza said.
Mendoza went from hardly knowing a word in English to having complete conversations.
"Five years ago, I couldn’t speak more than I (do now.) Right now, I see the difference," Mendoza said.
He hopes his improved English skills will lead to better job opportunities.
"I’m an electrician. I don’t have a license, and I need to speak fluent English to get my license. So that’s what I would like to do for my next step," Mendoza said.
Russell said coming once a week for two hours a day to learn another language has helped students at Grace en Español greatly.
But a lot of this wouldn’t be possible without PAVE (Pathways for Adults Via Education), which was called the Literacy Council of Tyler.
"They’re the ones that do donate the books to us and the curriculum that we use for our students. And this year they helped us a lot with testing," Russell said.
And Grace en Español offers so much more as well. Carlos Vera, chaplain for the church, said there’s a bigger need for the community than just learning a new language.
"We channel them to different places that can help them like the food bank, Bethesda Health Clinic and immigration resources," Vera said.
This is just a stepping stone for what could be the start of a bright future for these students, proving it’s never too late to learn something new.
Russell said they hope to encourage their students to obtain their GED if they can.
Those interested in attending these classes at Grace en Español should keep an eye on their social media pages to register for the spring semester, which starts this upcoming February.