Culture, Connections, and Community all in one English class

By Lorenzo Lizzeri

A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Ricki Ravitts, one of the teachers of the Conversational English as a Second Language Class here at Advent. The class uses conversations to teach people English. At the beginning of each class, students sit with teachers and other students at different tables and learn through having conversations in English. Through their conversations, students also learn about the lives of other students and teachers. 

I visited the class in December and joined one of the conversations. During our conversation, I learned a lot about the lives of the students and the teacher. The teacher told the table about her career as a musician. One of the students told us that the English class had taught her enough English to perform in a choir. I shared with the class that English is my second language as well and therefore could relate to many of their experiences. My parents immigrated to the US from Italy, and while I did learn English as a toddler, Italian was my first language. 

During our interview, Ricki told me multiple stories about people who were able to learn English through the class and how that impacted their lives. For example, Ricki told me that the English class made a Chinese woman so enthusiastic about English that she moved uptown from Chinatown in order to learn more English through more daily conversations. Ricki then told me that a young woman came to New York from Colombia because she had never traveled before and wanted to learn more English. The woman came to the class every week for the duration of her visit to New York, and was so interested in English that she regularly met with Ricki to get coffee and learn more English outside of class. The woman was so enthusiastic about English that she then went to Malta to learn even more English. Overall, the main point of Ricki’s stories was that through the class students learn a lot of English and about other people’s lives, become enthusiastic about English, and have conversations that allow for both student and teacher to learn and form a good relationship. 

Ricki then told me that she has seen Advent Lutheran Church helping people more generally. She said that Advent Lutheran Church has a strong sense of home and is an accepting community. She also explained that Advent Lutheran Church helps people, especially those in need, no matter who they are, through programs such as language classes, food pantries, and free community lunches, as well as many other events. 

Then, Ricki talked about how Advent Lutheran Church has impacted her. Ricki loves singing in the choir, learns about other cultures, and makes friends. For example, Ricki told me about how a Korean woman from the English class gave her Korean tea, which Ricki says is very different from other tea and gave her valuable insight into Korean culture. Ricki also told me that Advent, especially the English class has made Ricki want to learn more languages such as Swahili, Spanish, and Italian to be able to communicate with students of the class. Finally, Ricki told me that as a whole, Advent Lutheran Church has enabled her to form valuable friendships through language conversations and Advent’s strong sense of community. 

My takeaway from my conversation with Ricki is that the English as a second language class is representative of Advent Lutheran Church as a whole. Firstly, the class helps people, especially people in need, and is accepting of everyone no matter what. Secondly, It is a great group with a strong sense of community, and is a great way to make lifelong friends. And finally, those who help others feel more fulfilled and happier because they are giving back to the community, and also learn and grow as people themselves. 

If you are interested in the language class or anything else mentioned in this article,

Advent Lutheran Church has an English as a second language instructional class from 10-11am on Thursdays and a conversational class from 3-4pm on Tuesdays. The class welcomes both new walk-in students and new volunteers.

When have you learned more about others through an experience at Advent? 

When have you felt more fulfilled or happier by helping others? 

What is one thing you do today to experience joy through helping others? 

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