By Kathleen Haley, Syracuse University News
In a brightly decorated classroom lined with children’s artwork and brimming with the playful noise and energy of a bunch of 4- and 5-year-olds, Totadri Dhimal ’15 encourages talking. The more the better, and he is an active participant as a Literacy Corps tutor.
Dhimal’s charges are from Burma, Nepal, Sudan and Vietnam. They are recent immigrants learning English as a second language in a preschool program in Syracuse. “Some of them have a confidence issue,” Dhimal says. “They don’t really talk to us or the teachers. They only talk to their friends, so I’m trying to be their friend and get them to talk to me and improve their speaking skills.”
Dhimal knows the new words of English don’t always come easy. Six years ago, he was the one learning English, having just emigrated with his family from Nepal. “I had pretty decent reading skills, but my speaking was really bad,” Dhimal says. It’s that experience he can share. “They see I’m a Nepali and they think ‘If he can do it, then I can do it,’” he says.
Summer service
Dhimal applied to become a Literacy Corps tutor with the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service after seeing the position posted online. The Literacy Corps program, a literacy initiative of the Shaw Center, continued through the summer with 26 students this year working full-time in Syracuse City School District summer school programming.
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