NEW
Library Project
Volume 4, Number 1 - Fall 2005
Gente y Cuentos Flexes to
Meet Readers' Needs
by Lenora Kandiner
Please
speak slowly. Americans talk too fast.
I
need to go home and look at my dictionary – I’ve been in this
country for 40 years and I don’t use Spanish except when I come here.
These quotes show the range of Hispanic participation in People and Stories—Gente y Cuentos, from recent immigrants struggling with English to second-generation Americans for whom Spanish is barely familiar. Our grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to expand our programs nationwide has prompted us to find new ways of meeting this diverse and growing population.
Our classic Gente y Cuentos model serves many
who want to explore literature in their native language. Some are new
immigrants, while others have been here for many years. They may not speak
Spanish in their daily lives, as many have married non-Spanish speakers
and use English at work. Gente y Cuentos allows them to keep in touch with
their roots and their culture, be exposed to a wide range of literature in
Spanish and converse with Spanish-speaking people from other countries and
backgrounds.
Another type of Gente y Cuentos programming
serves immigrants who are learning English as a second language. In San
Francisco, librarian Martha Arroyo Neves is working with a group of
recently-arrived students who gather in the Mission High School library
after classes. Many of these young people had no experience with
literature in their native countries. Mission High School teacher Rodolfo
says the program helps students gain fluency in both languages. “We
master Spanish, which helps us with learning English,” adds Jonathan, a
participant who moved to the U.S. from Guatemala three years ago.
Still other Gente y Cuentos programs take a
flexible approach, using both Spanish and English as participants’
skills and needs change. In Wichita, Kansas, librarian Jaime Prothro
described the program as “adult story time” to a group of Migrant Even
Start GED students who had passed the ESL phase of their program. They
ranged in age from 18 to 45 and had varying levels of English ability.
During readings of the stories in English,
less-experienced students were encouraged to note unfamiliar vocabulary
and ideas so the group could discuss context and definitions afterwards.
At first, discussions periodically veered off into Spanish; as the series
continued, this happened less and less. Many participants are now regular
patrons of the library.
Several programs have been experimenting with
bilingual models, using stories available in both Spanish and English.
Coordinator Alma Concepción modified Gente y Cuentos for The New
Community’s Hispanic Development Corporation in Newark. She read a story
in Spanish one week, with discussion in Spanish following; the next week,
the group read and discussed the same story in English. Next time, she
plans to read Spanish and English versions on the same day because she
found that ESL learners “want to get into the English quicker.”
Librarian Karen Harris, in Gwinnett County, Georgia, also led a bilingual program—alternating English and Spanish readings—at a local technical institute. The stories and discussions probed deeper than any particular language to touch a common core of humanity. One participant, Gregorio, said, “This program makes us feel like people again!”