Gracias, Merci, Thanks; Immigrants’ Meaning Is Clear in Any Language

THOUSAND OAKS — Most people are grateful for everyday gifts on Thanksgiving: health, family, friends.

But there are those who give thanks for something many take for granted: the ability to speak English.

“Thank you to my teachers,” Frederico Rodriguez of Zacatecas, Mexico, said Wednesday. “I always hope I can help people to learn English, too.”

Rodriguez was one of about 125 English as a Second Language students who celebrated Thanksgiving on Wednesday at the Conejo Valley Adult School. The aim of the event--part lesson, part party--was to teach students about the American holiday and learn about their cultures.

But before anyone got to eat any turkey--or Afghan rice, for that matter--students from each class demonstrated their varying levels of communication skills.

“I am grateful to be in America,” said Miranda Chu of China, who spoke freely and comfortably in front of the crowd. “It’s a beautiful country that gives us the freedom to be what you want to be.”

Others, who did not feel so at ease with their English, read from prepared statements.

“Thank you to all the people who provide services and don’t get much recognition,” read Alejandra Hernandez.

Hernandez came to Thousand Oaks two years ago from Mexico to follow her husband, who had gotten a job as a computer software engineer. “Thank you to the teachers, firefighters, mailmen and the people who put groceries in the bag at the supermarket,” she said.

And those who are still learning the language showed their appreciation for the United States without speaking at all.

Cheers and claps abounded for Zoya Bashardoust, who moved here several months ago from Iran. Silently but expressively, Bashardoust swayed and teased the audience with her shawl as she performed a Mediterranean dance.

About 1,500 immigrants a year take the free ESL classes, which are open to all Ventura County residents, said Principal Dave Woodruff. And while the adult students--whose homelands include Mexico, Brazil, Peru, China, Japan and Russia--study English for three hours a day, the school provides day care for their children at about $40 a month. Students range from 18 to 75, with the average age about 40.

The Thanksgiving party was a good example of a typical hands-on lesson, said Debbie Hamer, coordinator of the ESL program. Other activities include field trips and outside lecturers to give students a wide range of “American” experiences that also can provide real-life benefits, she said.

For example, one speaker might talk about job opportunities, or the class might travel to a sheriff’s office to learn what role law enforcement plays in the United States.

Basically, anything the students do is fair game for a lesson.

For 27-year-old Naoko Shimohori of Japan, Wednesday’s feast was a course on new foods.

“I never had turkey before,” Shimohori said, adding that she moved to Thousand Oaks in July after her husband got a job as an engineer. “It’s pretty good.”

For 26-year-old Juan Gonzales of Peru, the party gave him a chance to practice his new vocabulary.

“English is a wall, if you can’t speak it,” said Gonzales, who came to California two years ago to study engineering. “But it’s a priority for me. . . . You can get a better job.”

When his English is good enough, Gonzales said, he plans to take math and physics classes at Moorpark College and then attend a four-year university.

“I didn’t want to come here at first and leave my girlfriend and family,” he said. “But now I know [that] here is a good opportunity.”