1. 8/4/14 7:58 PMMy Experience as an ESL Tutor for Newly Arrived Refugees | International Rescue Committee (IRC)
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My Experience as an ESL Tutor
for Newly Arrived Refugees
By Kurt Patrizi
I began serving as a volunteer English as a Second Language (ESL) tutor for the International Rescue
Committee (IRC) in October 2013. Since that time, I have served as the tutor for a wonderful family from
Burma. The family includes Mom (Mimi), Dad (Lamika), and their 17-year-old daughter ( Phae Phyo). They
arrived in America during August 2013. When they arrived, Mimi and Lamika spoke no English and were at
the absolute beginner stage with regard to learning English. They are fluent in both Burmese and Malay.
Phae Phyo arrived here with substantial English capabilities – speaking, reading, and writing. She is fluent
in Burmese as well. She began attending high school upon her arrival and has been earning straight A’s.
She achieved the Honor Roll every semester! Phae Phyo’s courses include an ESL course.
With IRC job placement assistance, Lamika has been working full-time since their arrival in the U.S.
Because access to formal ESL classes is not an option due to his work schedule, I have been volunteering
2-3 hour tutoring sessions on Saturdays at the family’s home. To date, we have completed more than 20
sessions. Because Mimi and Lamika are English language beginners, and Phae Phyo has substantial
English language skills, I divide each session into two parts. The first part focuses on the learning needs of
Mimi and Lamika as beginners, and the second part focuses on the more advanced learning needs of Phae
Phyo.
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For Mimi and Lamika, the first step was to start building a basic vocabulary of everyday words, such as
household objects. This task was easier to accomplish for two reasons. First, Mimi and Lamika speak
Malay, which largely involves the same alphabet as English. So, from the start, they were substantially
familiar with the sounds of the English alphabet. If they knew only the Burmese language, which involves
an alphabet completely different from the English alphabet, the task of building a basic, English vocabulary
would have been far more challenging. Second, because Phae Phyo has strong English skills, she has
served as a translator between me and her parents and has been able to greatly assist me with tutoring her
parents. To date, Mimi and Lamika’s tutoring sessions have included names of household objects; names
of outdoor objects; words pertinent to various situations, such as household finance, banking, and
shopping; the 100 most common English words; common English phases pertinent to various situations;
and pronunciation exercises.
For Phae Phyo, as her English skills are substantial, I have focused on areas of her choice. Her preference
has been to focus on significantly increasing her English vocabulary, increasing her writing skills, and to
receiving tutoring assistance with her school ESL homework, and other homework at various times. I tutor
Phae Phyo by engaging her in essay writing assignments, and in reading newspaper and magazine articles
in which she then identifies words, terms, or phrases that are new to her. I review her essays and we
discuss writing improvements for each essay during the following session. While reading the newspaper
and magazine articles, Phae Phyo writes down the words, terms, or phrases that are new to her, looks
them up in a dictionary, and writes down what she thinks is the definition or meaning. At the following
session, we discuss each word, term, or phrase to further clarify the meaning (or meanings) and go over
examples of how to use them in sentences and situations.
Our tutoring sessions have been both intensive and an enormous amount of fun. Often, teaching ESL
naturally leads to discussions of cultural and language differences and similarities. We have all learned a
great deal about each other’s cultures and languages. The sessions are very upbeat and involve a lot of
laughter and good humor. Mimi, Lamika, and Phae Phyo take the sessions very seriously, do all the
homework that I assign, and work hard at learning English. Occasionally, we have taken trips to the grocery
store and a restaurant. I am very fortunate in that Mimi and Lamika are so kind that they prepare an

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authentic and super delicious Burmese meal after each session!
In my experience, volunteering as an ESL tutor is highly rewarding and involves patience, humor, clear
communication, flexibility, active listening, good lesson planning, and preparation. ESL tutoring is a
wonderful opportunity to help those newly arrived to the U.S. with their transition into a new language,
culture, and way of life. When tutoring, it is critical to provide a positive learning environment, and to make
it known that it is okay to make mistakes when learning English or any language for that matter.
To conclude, I should probably mention a little bit about myself. I am originally from the Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania area but have lived in Washington, DC for a little over 20 years. The Pittsburgh area has
always been multicultural in nature because it was largely settled by many immigrants from Eastern
Europe, Italy, and Greece. Many of the Pittsburghers of my parent’s and grandparent’s generations spoke
English as a second language. So, growing up in Pittsburgh, I was constantly surrounded by grandparents,
friends, friends’ parents, teachers, clergy, and others who spoke English as a second language. My career
has been in the areas of management and research in the fields of environmental engineering and natural
resources management. This year, I plan to receive my Teachers English to Speakers of Other Languages
(TESOL) certification.
I have seen firsthand that ESL tutoring is critically important and highly rewarding. I recommend it to
anyone who has an interest in the English language and a desire to help people transition into their new life
in the U.S.