Moses Lake library to offer English classes for beginners
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 6 months AGO
Brandee Miller said she has always loved working with and teaching language. Miller is the instructor for a free “English for Speakers of Other Languages,” beginning Thursday at the Moses Lake Public Library.
COURTESY PHOTO/BRANDEE MILLER
Brandee Miller on a trip during her time as an exchange student in Venezuela, pictured with a guide. Miller will be teaching a free class to help people learn English at the Moses Lake Public Library.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 9, 2024 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Library will offer a free beginning English for Speakers of Other Languages class starting this month.
“We're going to be starting with the alphabet and with simple conversations,” said Brandee Miller, who’s teaching the class. “I will be also providing materials for them to study to take home to work with if they like.”
The class begins Thursday and will meet from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. once each week. The 11-week course will cover the basics of speaking, reading and writing in English. It’s particularly geared toward Spanish speakers.
Miller has a master’s degree in Spanish from Purdue University, bachelor’s degrees in English and Spanish from Muskingum University and has taught both English and Spanish at the high school and college levels, she said.
She got the idea to volunteer with the library after last year’s Moravida Festival at the Grant County Fairgrounds, she said. She brought the idea to library staff, who said they had been wanting to offer a class for some time.
“I taught (English as a Second Language) for a community college in Texas, and I really enjoyed that,” she said. “I've always loved working with languages. Negotiating language, you know, it's not an easy thing, especially if you're in a place where you don't feel like you can communicate and tell your story, because everyone has a story … Not everyone has resources to go to school (or) to pay for classes. So I wanted to make something that was available for people in all walks of life, no matter what their situation, so they can work toward their business goals and their personal goals.”
Roughly 25% of Grant County residents speak Spanish as their first language, according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
“It's always been very interesting to me that we're taught how to learn things in life,” Miller said. “We're taught how to learn math, we're taught how to learn science, we're taught how to learn other things. But when it comes to learning a language, we're just taught in the language, we're not taught how to learn, and maybe apply that knowledge to another language.”
More information is available from the Moses Lake Library, 509-765-3489.
Note: Brandee Miller is married to Columbia Basin Herald Managing Editor R. Hans Miller, who was not involved in writing or editing this story.
Brandee Miller on a trip during her time as an exchange student in Venezuela, pictured with a guide. Miller will be teaching a free class to help people learn English at the Moses Lake Public Library.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”