Somewhat related to my last blog post, I experienced an election impact. Although the lead teacher from this RDC Adult ESL Class had explicitly stated she wanted no discussion of mention of the results in the classroom last week, the Capital Area District Library of East Lansing where tutoring holds place each week did want to act upon the election. Upon entering the classroom, various snacks such as popcorn, cookies, donuts, apple cider, etc were laid out on tables. One of the main librarians visited the classroom and spoke to the room briefly, sharing that despite the election results and the worries some may have that on behalf of the library she hopes everybody in the room will feel comfortable and accepted in the library, as CADL fully supports and welcomes refugees. In this, she spoke somewhat quickly and exited afterwards while the lead teacher moved on to introducing the bank speakers without adding or referencing more to the election results or the librarian's speech besides thanking the library for the food.
As the MSU FCU speakers began their presentation, an old RDC student arrived and the lead teacher asked him if he could be a translator for the Farsi students as around 1/4 of the students spoke Farsi with beginning English. The class went on as the bank presenters presented their material in their normal fashion, but pausing after each slide for the translator to reiterate in Farsi and check for questions. Although at first, the room remained silent, once the bank began discussing savings and investing then questions began popping up from students. Most questions were asked in Farsi, translated by the old RDC student, answered by the bank speakers, and then translated back to Farsi. I feel that this translation process was very helpful to that 1/4th class; however, I could tell some Spanish speaking, Arabic speaking, and others seemed more confused and didn't ask questions.
Through one of the questions that was asked, I learned something new. One Farsi speaking student asked if there are bank accounts that don't grow or give interest, which the translator asked the bank speakers while explaining to the rest of the class that in their culture investing or putting money in a growth account isn't permitted. Other's asked questions about the possibilities of using a bank account to send money back to Iran. Other related questions also arose during the bank presentation, and below is a word document containing the slides from the PowerPoints used during this presentation, with permission to attach to this blog from the MSU FCU presenters.
Later after the formal presentation and Q&A session was finished, students were urged to participate in a check-writing activity. Given a blank check (see word document attached), tutors including myself helped students learn to fill out checks. At one point, I was helping a Farsi student who seemed very confused as she seemed to not understand what I was saying and was a first time student that day. The Farsi translator was able to make his way to us though and help explain the concept and purpose of learning to write a check, which I think was lost in translation.
Overall, for the Farsi speaking students I feel this bank visit was fairly helpful. Although most are unable to open any type of interest/growth account, they did show interest in basic checking/saving accounts. For those who didn't speak English fluently or speak Farsi, I believe gained less from the presentation. Although I had the opportunity to work with multiple Farsi speaking students during this session, I didn't get the chance to work with other speakers of different languages then Farsi and English.
As the MSU FCU speakers began their presentation, an old RDC student arrived and the lead teacher asked him if he could be a translator for the Farsi students as around 1/4 of the students spoke Farsi with beginning English. The class went on as the bank presenters presented their material in their normal fashion, but pausing after each slide for the translator to reiterate in Farsi and check for questions. Although at first, the room remained silent, once the bank began discussing savings and investing then questions began popping up from students. Most questions were asked in Farsi, translated by the old RDC student, answered by the bank speakers, and then translated back to Farsi. I feel that this translation process was very helpful to that 1/4th class; however, I could tell some Spanish speaking, Arabic speaking, and others seemed more confused and didn't ask questions.
Through one of the questions that was asked, I learned something new. One Farsi speaking student asked if there are bank accounts that don't grow or give interest, which the translator asked the bank speakers while explaining to the rest of the class that in their culture investing or putting money in a growth account isn't permitted. Other's asked questions about the possibilities of using a bank account to send money back to Iran. Other related questions also arose during the bank presentation, and below is a word document containing the slides from the PowerPoints used during this presentation, with permission to attach to this blog from the MSU FCU presenters.
Later after the formal presentation and Q&A session was finished, students were urged to participate in a check-writing activity. Given a blank check (see word document attached), tutors including myself helped students learn to fill out checks. At one point, I was helping a Farsi student who seemed very confused as she seemed to not understand what I was saying and was a first time student that day. The Farsi translator was able to make his way to us though and help explain the concept and purpose of learning to write a check, which I think was lost in translation.
Overall, for the Farsi speaking students I feel this bank visit was fairly helpful. Although most are unable to open any type of interest/growth account, they did show interest in basic checking/saving accounts. For those who didn't speak English fluently or speak Farsi, I believe gained less from the presentation. Although I had the opportunity to work with multiple Farsi speaking students during this session, I didn't get the chance to work with other speakers of different languages then Farsi and English.