Learner Spotlight: Meet Maria

Learner Spotlight: Meet Maria

Welcome to our monthly Learner Spotlight!

We invite you to meet Maria, our featured student this month in our “Learner Spotlight”.  Featured adult learners will represent all of the Literacy Council’s programs, including authors from Reflections: Voices of English Learners, the Literacy Council’s literary magazine, as well as other students.

I  have written these words with great thanks to the Literacy Council program and to the kind people who work arduously for us, the students.  The Literacy Council is a privileged place for for foreigners like me, because we receive all sorts of help regarding learning the English Language.  As an example, thanks to this help I was able to prepare for my citizenship exam. I am already an American Citizen; and now my goal is to achieve a high level of fluency in English, both written and spoken.  I will live forever grateful to the program and to all the wonderful people who make up the Literacy Council staff.
We hope you enjoy Maria’s stories, “One of the Most Important Events in Our Lives” and “The Delight of Building the Christmas Manger Scene with My Family.” View all of our students’ stories on our Reflections: Voices of English Learners web page!
“One of the Most Important Events in Our Lives”
One of the most important events in our lives was to become an American citizen.  When my family and I came to the U.S. we knew from my husband’s family that it would be of vital importance to get a lawyer and apply for a green card. The U.S. and Colombia are good examples of two countries that are geographically distant but have similarities with respect to following and complying with immigration laws to be able to live without any mishaps.  Read more of Maria’s story on page 29.
“The Delight of Building the Christmas Manger Scene with My Family”
During the Christmas season, my family and I have a Catholic tradition where we build with the whole family the Christmas manger scene, representing the birth of the child Jesus. Placing wisps of straw in the crib in order to prepare the child Jesus’ bed, the families prepare their hearts for the Christmas miracle of the holy birth. I  have in my mind, beautiful memories when my Dad began to assemble the village of Bethlehem where the child Jesus was born. Read more of Maria’s story on page 30.
Read more of Maria’s stories on pages 29-30 from our 3rd edition of Reflections.