Ladon Language Team

To gain a better understanding of the challenges immigrants face, Ladon Language Team talked to Sue Pon, Director, Oakland Adult & Career Education, Oakland Unified School District. She has dedicated her life to helping people overcome language and cultural barriers to receive an education in the United States and to be successful in life. “I have been in adult education for more years than you both have been around,” Sue said, cheekily. In 2008, Oakland was the seventh largest recipient of adult education funding in California . According to the East Bay Express , Oakland had the highest number of immigrants in California. A total of 25000 adult students enrolled for their English as a Second Language (ESL) Programs and Edward Shands Schools was housing close to 60% of this student population. The purpose of an adult school is to provide multilevel ESL academic and literacy instructions and education to parents. Adult education has been traditionally designed for imm...

How language barriers prevent immigrant students in the U.S. from getting better education California is home to Silicon Valley and to Stanford and the UCs -- the top universities in the nation and the world. Who would think that California’s K-12 education would be performing so poorly? And yet statistics show that students in the state are struggling to learn. Home to thousands of immigrant students, California has yet to improve how they involve families and communities in educating immigrant students. Language barriers and the opportunity gap Language barriers do exactly as the name suggests: it prevents us from connecting, effectively creating gaps between people -- a reality for many immigrant students in the United States. Wealth disparity and language barriers lead to education gaps, which in turn result in poor school performance and in opportunity gaps. And it’s not hard to imagine why. When you find yourself lost in an unfamiliar place, the gut reaction is p...

Lost in translation: Bridge language barriers with Ladon “ The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” - George Bernard Shaw Communication is a complex sphere where emotions and logic are dependent on languages to take shape. In a world of increased migration of populations across countries, clear communication becomes even more important. Technology has opened up channels of interactions between people who were earlier isolated from each other. However, not all technology enables these people to speak to each other in a way that they can understand. In a world where people are increasingly moving to new lands for better opportunities as well as survival, maintaining clear channels of communication is crucial at every level. From documentation efforts to learning a new language to gain access to public services, communication can make or break a person’s immigrant experience. According to a Global Citizen a...