Local group thriving while learning English

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The San Jacinto Adult Learning Center offers English classes along with a variety of other courses and resources to support adult learners in El Paso.

Located in South-Central El Paso, one of its instructors, Ms. Cecilia Irene Esparza, aims to help her students gain the confidence to speak a different language.

Ms. Esparza has been teaching for 50 years. She began teaching young children and says she see the differences across the age groups now that she works with adults.

"I encourage them, and it doesn't take long. Once they're in class, that's all I notice. It takes time—they're hesitant to speak at first. But after a few classes, when they realize making a mistake isn’t a disaster and it's okay to be wrong, they start speaking. I love that. I love seeing it," said Ms. Esparza.

ABC-7 had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Esparza and some of the center's students, who shared their challenges and fears about learning a new language, as well as how they feel when they succeed in saying or doing something correctly.

"Well, that's my goal. We live in this border city where we need to embrace everyone. As a border city, we have English, Spanish, accents, and no accents—all of it is okay," Ms. Esparza added.

The center teaches students mouth movements, pronunciation, and other skills.

If you are interested in studying at the San Jacinto Adult Learning Center, you can call them at 915-230-3200.