ESL in Toledo: Teaching English While Navigating a Pandemic

Like many other organizations, here at US Together we have faced many changes to how we provide programming and services caused by the pandemic. In today’s blog, we want to feature our English as a Second Language (ESL) program in Toledo and how the coordinators of the program have adapted to changes brought on by the pandemic. The ESL program is an essential resource for the integration of our clients. Language is a major barrier to economic self-sufficiency for newly arrived refugees, which is one of the many reasons why US Together provides these courses. All of our clients have access to ESL classes upon arrival in Toledo. We provide beginner and intermediate courses which were offered several times a week in person prior to the pandemic.

Here in Toledo, Bashar Al-Hariri heads the ESL program. Bashar is also a visiting assistant professor in English at the University of Toledo. Bashar has valiantly led the ESL program through the changes brought on by COVID-19. When asked about the impact the pandemic has had on the program, he says that back in March, the class was immediately successfully transitioned to classes on Skype. The ESL staff and volunteers helped all the students download Skype to ensure a smooth transition. Bashar also mentioned that he had to make changes to the curriculum so that the materials were accessible virtually. Bashar and the volunteers prepared packets “just like in schools and disseminated them to the students” so they wouldn’t miss a class if they did not have a laptop or faced other technological challenges. In addition to the transition to online learning, Bashar also started changing intermediate classes to focus on literacy related to COVID and information published by the CDC. Thanks to the flexibility of Bashar, the ESL program was able to continue and luckily enough, Bashar noted, that the classes have had even higher attendance as many were able to attend online more easily.

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