Chapter 1: Introductions

ADELA

I banged my yard-long pointer stick against the whiteboard, and the mixture of conversations slowly stopped.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I am Adela Cortez, your instructor.” I pointed at my name up on the board. “You should use Ms. Cortez when you speak to me. This class is English as a Second Language, Level 2. Because you have completed Level 1, I will assume you have a small understanding of English. To cement, to fix this knowledge in your minds, I use what’s called immersion, which means we only speak English here. Think of it like being baptized—except instead of water, you will be buried inside the language of America, just the way children learn.”

By this point, I had the introduction speech down pat, and while the words spilled out of my mouth I was studying the group and making assumptions about each of them. This class, like most of its predecessors, was mostly Latina/Latino, with a few from East Asia and two women who were either Arab or Persian judging by their garments and covered hair.

Next, I asked each student to address my phone as I recorded a short video, stating their name, original language and country, and their employment. A few times, I heard “mi nombre” and “me llamo” in Spanish which I required them to correct before proceeding, although I smiled and reassured them. I expected small mistakes, and my only intention was to mark errors but not to be critical.

One guy stood out to me; he sounded Latino, but looked different. For one thing, his hair was much lighter than his fellow students, and his eyes were green instead of brown.