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Aquinas Literacy Center Helps Adults Succeed Through Learning English

By Ed Komenda | May 27, 2016 8:08am
 Arturo Mirando, 30, practices reading at the Aquinas Literacy Center.
Arturo Mirando, 30, practices reading at the Aquinas Literacy Center.
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DNAinfo/Ed Komenda

MCKINLEY PARK — Arturo Miranda has a degree in engineering, but he still works 40 hours a week washing cars to make a living.

The 30-year-old college graduate completed his schooling in Mexico, where he had no need to speak English. Since Miranda moved to the neighborhood last year, the language barrier has been a challenge.

Miranda eventually found solace at the Aquinas Literacy Center, where he’s been learning to speak basic English with the help of a volunteer tutor.

Today, Miranda can manage basic conversations that allow him to buy food, find the clothes he needs and navigate life on the South Side.

“I’m a survivor in this country,” Miranda said on a recent Wednesday morning, when he sat down with Sister JoAnn Fleischaker of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, the group that founded the Aquinas Literacy Center in 1996.

Over the past several weeks, Fleischaker has guided Miranda through reading practices and sentence structure. In between lessons, he learned about American quirks like cowboys, blue jeans, April Fool’s Day and Las Vegas.

“It’s fun,” Fleischaker said of teaching. “These people are really motivated.”

In the past two decades, the center has graduated about 200 adults, ranging in age from 18-75, from its literacy program — a four-level curriculum taught by volunteers covering a broad spectrum of language skills that includes the basic alphabet, reading and conversation.

Every morning, the center welcomes students from far-flung places like Italy, Poland, France and Algeria.

Deborah Kabengele left her native Congo about seven months ago. The 23-year-old transplant soon discovered the center, where she has developed her English enough to partake in basic conversation.

"I feel better, and I learn more every day," Kabengele said. "I'm very happy to come here."

It’s a low-cost program for students who work part-time and don’t make very much money. Students only have to pay $25 for books.

Virginia Mercado graduated from the program in June. The 35-year-old waitress recently uprooted her life in the Dominican Republic, where it was her dream to learn English and start anew in the United States.

That dream came true at the Aquinas Literacy Center.

"This school is like my second house," Mercado said. "I'm so grateful for this school.”

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