Rosilene’s Story: Exploring a New Culture, Discovering Community, Part 2

When Rosilene started taking classes here at the Frederick Literacy Council, she was looking to improve her English language skills. What she didn’t expect was that she’d also develop a community and gain so much insight into American culture.

She and her family had moved to the states from Jacarei, a city in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for her husband’s work as an aerospace engineer. They moved to Frederick in 2023 and soon settled in. Her husband was busy at work and her children at elementary school.

Rosilene found herself feeling isolated. She felt that her English language level was creating a barrier, so she decided to take language classes with us – and that’s when things changed.

“I didn’t have a community here” Rosilene says. “But (the Literacy Council) is that for me. I’m with people who are in the same situation, immigrants trying to learn English. The obstacles are the same. When you are in the real world – people there are not learning English, (but) here it’s a safe space, you can make mistakes. Sometimes in the real world, no.”

She’s taken all sorts of classes – discussion and writing classes, even a civics course. She’s also joined our book club, facilitated by volunteer Catherine Coundjeris. The book club is conducted online, but Rosilene loves that when each book is finished members met together at the Delizia Café downtown to end with an in-person discussion.

And the book club isn’t just about community. It’s also building her language skills, of course, but even more, it’s giving her insight into the culture and history of her adopted country.

“I like the selection Catherine does,” Rosilene says. “With her, I can learn more about the country.” Rosilene was fascinated to read about the great depression and the dust bowl when she read the latest book selection, Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds.

She’s been able to dive further into American history – this time, local – by taking our civics class.

“One thing I found here is how people like history,” she says. “We don’t have much connection with history in my country.” Rosilene’s class went to the Civil War Medicine Museum together, and since then she’s noticed the historical placards all over Frederick. “If you look closely, you can breathe history here,” she says.

These days, Rosilene is feeling so much more at home in the language and culture of her new country that she found herself volunteering to help out at her church, St. John the Evangelist.

“This year I took courage and I volunteered there with faith formation,” she said. She enjoys being more involved in the community there. She helps with the classes, and teaches the kids “all about the faith.”

She’s also still hungrily pursuing more knowledge of American culture inside and outside of class: she subscribes to the Frederick Post, the Washington Post, even Good Housekeeping, and listens to local radio programs.

“I’m here trying to see another country,” she said. “Before, in my city, it felt like we lived in a bubble, we didn’t know the world.”

What she loves about her community at the Literacy Council is that she’s not only learning about America, but other countries too. “I feel here is like a big family, and you can listen to their stories, and learn from other places.”