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Providing the most vulnerable with an online crash course in survival English. Giving refugees the language they need to master everyday life in a new country and new society.
The Need
The Need
“In their home country, they were somebody,” he said. “Here, they felt like nobodies.” - http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-evangelical-refugee-20170215-story.html
“About 3 million refugees have been resettled to the U.S. since Congress passed the Refugee Act of 1980." - Heartland Alliance, Refugees Factsheet
What’s it like when you can’t speak English? When I first moved to Japan, I couldn’t read the packages in the grocery store, or go to the doctor by myself, or open a bank account by myself. Even today I can’t read an apartment lease in any language but English. I had a wealth of support, from my company, from my family, and my own financial resources. Refugees who flee to our country out of desperation don’t have the same luxuries.
Imagine your parents, or your siblings, suddenly fleeing home with nothing but what they can carry. They are smart, capable people who want to take care of themselves and their family. When they finally reach safety, they can’t even speak the local language. They don’t want to be dependent on a handout. They want to get a job and become self-sufficient again. They want to rebuild their lives.
That’s where Hello World ESL comes in. Together we are building an online survival English course and delivering it to refugees struggling to get back on their feet again, and you can help.
Project Overview
Project Overview
Hello World ESL is an online survival English course designed to meet the needs of refugees living in the US. An international team of professional Educators, Artists, and IT professionals have come together to build the course comprising of 50 English lessons with audio, video, text, and interactive content. We are building partnerships with government agencies, Non-profit NGOs, educational institutions, and community and religious aid organizations to help refugees access the Hello World online platform.
Hello World ESL is a free, self-access web application. Each lesson will focus on a single situation like filling out a form at a doctor’s office, or calling a utility company rather than grammar and vocabulary. This will allow them to be used both for study and for just-in-time practice before an expected need.
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