Our view: English classes help refugees adjust to Erie

On the same day we ran a front-page story about English as a Second Language classes, we also reported on a communications mix-up involving refugees from Myanmar.

Dana Massing's ESL story had been in the works for weeks. The story about the Myanmar refugees was breaking news. The family of seven showed up at Erie International Airport at 2 a.m. on Feb. 18, traveling here by bus from Cleveland because their flight to Erie had been canceled.

Representatives of the International Institute of Erie were not told about the change in travel plans. The refugees, who did not speak English, would have been left to fend for themselves if not for the kindness of airport staffers, a police officer and Continental Airlines representatives, all of whom came to their aid, made sure they were fed and put them in touch with the International Institute.

Some local people have expressed scorn not just for these refugees but for others who have been relocated to Erie because of war or persecution in their homelands. "They don't speak English and have no money and are completely unsuited to live here," one person wrote about the stranded Myanmar family.

Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for George W. Bush, recently addressed those who harbor such suspicions and resentments. "Immigrants are not a bacillus; they are a source of values and vitality," Gerson wrote.

Massing's story, about the success of various programs in teaching newcomers to speak English and to acclimate to Erie, should alleviate such concerns.

Many of those taking English classes at the International Institute and at places like First Alliance Church are like that family from Myanmar. They have come to the U.S. -- the place where the Statue of Liberty promises to welcome "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" -- to escape war and human rights abuses.

Burma is the former name of Myanmar, a Southeast Asia military dictatorship with a notorious reputation for abusing democracy supporters. Myanmar refugees Mu Poe, 53, and her nephew, Sey Wah, 30, had been in Erie three weeks when Massing interviewed them.

"We want to learn more English," both said -- in English. Would we be able to say "We want to learn more Burmese," if the situation were reversed?

Other students explained that they are learning English so they can find jobs. "I need to work," Byamungu Aligashe, 23, a French-speaking native of Congo, said. "I study every day."

Rwandan Syvidio Habimana, 21, in the U.S. about five months, learned British English in Zambia. He's studying the American version now.

As these students learn our language and our idioms, we hope our words to them will be "welcome."

Source :http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100301/OPINION01/303019995/-1/OPINION