Orland Park - The Orland Park Public Library is partnering with Literacy Chicago to offer a virtual English conversation class this summer.
“It can be isolating to not be able to converse well with your community,” said Community Engagement Manager Sarah Kleiva. “Imagine being a parent that can’t pick up the phone talk with their child’s teacher or not being able to communicate with your doctor.”
The library is uniquely positioned to welcome and work with English as a Second Language learners. This online conversation class will be taught in a relaxed and enjoyable way. The objective of this class is to be able to discuss a variety of subjects in English. Instructors focus on oral communication and helping students communicate more effectively in English.
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“This class is for any library patron who wishes to improve their conversational English,” Kleiva said. “It doesn’t matter what your first language is as long as you know some English going into it.”
Anyone who has a basic knowledge of English can join. This is a mixed level group. To participate in this class series, library patrons should register by following the links on the orlandparklibrary.org website.
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“If you have trouble signing up you can contact Literacy Chicago or the Library’s Outreach Department for help,” said Kleiva.
Patrons may join at any time during the course of the summer. Patrons should select Orland Park Public Library Conversational ESL for class choice.
“It isn’t new for libraries to offer completely free ESL and conversation classes,” Kleiva said. “It is something a lot of other libraries do and something we have been getting requests for recently. Programs like this are paid for by grants. We are pleased to be partnering with Literacy Chicago as they are local and have an excellent reputation in the library world.”
Literacy Chicago is a trusted partner and has been serving the Chicagoland area since 1968. Once registered patrons will receive a Zoom meeting ID and link to join the class.
“Classes will meet at 3 p.m. every Tuesday through the first week of September. If the class is well attended, we will add a fall series of classes,” said Kleiva.
