Literacy Matters

Join me in supporting literacy in Washtenaw County. I would like to share my aunt's story on the reason why Washtenaw Literacy has helped her, as a learner, improved her English.

Photo: Me, Daylan, Danny, my aunt Lan Duong (left to right) on Danny's sixth birthday.

My aunt, Lan Duong, came to the US from Vietnam in 2010. Soon after got married and had two children. At first her time in the United States was a struggle. The food, weather and language were all a shock. She could not find a job or make friends because of her limited English skills. She told me she felt lonely and isolated from the community.

Like my Aunt, when I came to the US from Vietnam I struggled. I came to US on a student visa and recently graduated from college in Indiana. I moved to Michigan to be closer to my aunt. Now, I am an intern at Washtenaw Literacy. As an international student, I used to have the same struggles living in a country where English is not my native language. I was stressed for the first three months at my school. I came from a tropical country so the cold came as an unpleasant surprise. My lack of transportation stopped me from reaching the Asian market to buy the ingredients to cook my home foods. I found my lack of understanding lectures from my professors to be very stressful and it made it difficult to complete assignments. In my daily life I felt nervous every time I expressed my opinions to my friends because they could not understand what I was saying. This issue lasted for a few months until I decided to join clubs and activities at school.

Unlike my Aunt, I was lucky enough to have a support network in place as a student. I had clubs and social activities I could join which were very helpful when learning the language and navigating the culture. My Aunt came to the US later in life and found herself trying to learn another language in her 40s. In summer of 2018, she asked me to look for some English schools in Ann Arbor that she could go to. At that time her oldest child had started school and struggled with his English skills. She knew she needed to improve her skills so that she could help him.

I found Washtenaw Literacy's drop in tutoring at Pittsfield Library. She started going to the ESL tutoring programs on Mondays and Tuesdays, which were very helpful. She found a welcoming community and was inspired to keep improving her skills. She has also enrolled in an ESL program through Ann Arbor Public Schools.

Her English skills and her confidence are improving. She told me that she really loves her teachers and tutors because they are very helpful and kind to help her with reading and writing. She would like to say "thank you" to employees, teachers, and tutors at Washtenaw Literacy and Ann Arbor Public School for the work and efforts with adults' literacy like her.

As she improves her skills she is looking forward to getting and job and working toward citizenship.

Please consider donating. Just a small donation will go a long way to helping me meet my goal for Washtenaw Literacy.