It’s an acronym that stands for English as a Second Language. Used in educational settings, it refers to teaching English to people whose native language is something other than English. According to the National Institute for Leadership, it is the fastest growing component of adult education.

If current trends continue, the population of the United States will rise to 438 million in 2050, from 296 million in 2005, and 82% of the increase will be due to immigrants arriving from 2005 to 2050 and their U.S.-born descendants, according to new projections developed by the Pew Research Center. The greater Baton Rouge area has experienced a large influx of Latinos since Hurricane Katrina and with the construction boom; there will be more need for cheap labor in the years to come. ALA wants to help those workers – as well as other non-English speaking community members – learn the English language. We want to teach them workplace literacy, health literacy, money skills and how to adapt to their new south Louisiana surroundings.

Because our program is new and slowly growing, we currently offer students one-on-one tutoring. As the number of registered students increases, we will offer classes. If you want to tutor, we ask that you commit a minimum of two hours per week to your student. You can divide that time as it works best for both you and your student, either once or twice per week.

No. All you need is energy, enthusiasm and patience. We discourage teachers from communicating in any language other than English.

There will be a mandatory training for all new tutors where you will learn the tools to successfully teach ESL. In addition, we will provide you with a curriculum and books to use during class. However, we encourage you to spend time planning your own lessons to meet the individual needs of your student.

We currently work with students from China, Honduras, Russia and Togo. We anticipate recruiting additional students from Mexico, Latin America, Central America, South America, Vietnam and Africa as well as Europe and the Middle East. ESL students want to learn English to earn more money, get better jobs in their countries or in the United States and in some cases to pass their citizenship exams. Some students are PhD holders from other countries, construction workers, moms, dads, teachers, high school dropouts and some are illiterate in their own languages.