• About

Three Worlds One Vision

~ Guyana – Brazil – USA

Three Worlds One Vision

Tag Archives: Speaking in English as a Second Language (ESL)

Brazil – Preparing My Sons for Our Move to the USA

08 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Rosaliene Bacchus in Brazil, Education

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

Books for adolescent boys, Fortaleza/Ceará, Migrating to the United States, Popular English Classics for adolescent boys, Reading out loud, Speaking in English as a Second Language (ESL)

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - Book CoverThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Book Cover

 

After mailing my divorce papers to my mother in the United States, five years went by before I heard from her attorney that the application for permanent residence for me and my two sons were finally being processed. On the chance that our application might be approved, I began preparing my sons, then sixteen and eighteen years old, for life in an English-speaking country.

Ten years earlier, after their father left Brazil to return to Guyana, my sons had stopped speaking English. To ensure that they did not forget the English language, I continued to speak to them in English. Later, when they started high school, it helped that English was part of their school’s curriculum. They both excelled in English grammar and vocabulary.

To get them to practice speaking in English without making it an onerous activity, I set up one-hour reading sessions once or twice a week, depending upon my work schedule. They had to be engaging stories for adolescent boys their age. In Fortaleza, finding the popular English Classics, in the English language, proved to be a challenge. But I did manage to find some of my favorites:

  • Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  • The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

During our reading sessions, we took turns at reading out loud. Their reading proficiency in English surprised me. Whenever we came upon a word or expression that they did not understand, I translated it to Portuguese. To determine their level of comprehension, I ended each session with a brief discussion. While I did not get them to comment on the story in English, I was satisfied that they were hearing themselves speak the language. From my own struggles in learning to speak Portuguese, I knew what an important step this was for them.

Happily, they enjoyed the stories and looked forward to our reading sessions. While preparing this blog post, I asked them which story was their favorite.

Without hesitation, my younger son said, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

His older brother couldn’t decide. “I enjoyed them all,” he said.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the last book we began reading together. By then, there were so many other pressing matters to attend to regarding our immigration process that we never completed the book. As in real life, we did not know what lay ahead for us, beyond the wardrobe, in our future adopted homeland.

Subscribe

  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Archives

  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011

Categories

  • About Me
  • Anthropogenic Climate Disruption
  • Brazil
  • Economy and Finance
  • Education
  • Family Life
  • Festivals
  • Fiction
  • Guyana
  • Health Issues
  • Human Behavior
  • Immigrants
  • Leisure & Entertainment
  • Nature and the Environment
  • People
  • Philosophy
  • Poetry
  • Poetry by Rosaliene Bacchus
  • Poets & Writers
  • Recommended Reading
  • Relationships
  • Religion
  • Reviews – The Twisted Circle: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus
  • Reviews – Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus
  • Save Our Children
  • Social Injustice
  • Technology
  • The Twisted Circle: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus
  • The Writer's Life
  • Uncategorized
  • Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus
  • United States
  • Urban Violence
  • Website Updates
  • Women Issues
  • Working Life

Blogroll

  • Angela Consolo Mankiewicz
  • Caribbean Book Blog
  • Dan McNay
  • Dr. Gerald Stein
  • Foreign Policy Association
  • Guyanese Online
  • Writer's Digest
  • WritersMarket: Where & How to Sell What You Write

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,853 other subscribers

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Three Worlds One Vision
    • Join 2,853 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Three Worlds One Vision
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...