| Possumus Spring 2008 |
Human Migration |
Soul
W here they come to become.
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The first wave of immigrants came to Minnesota from Germany, Sweden and Norway in the 1800s. Like today’s immigrants, they initially settled in mono-ethnic neighborhoods, experienced discrimination, and established businesses that catered to their fellow émigrés. Undoubtedly, they also felt an intense pressure to assimilate as fast as humanly possible. So how did our ancestors make that almost unimaginable transformation from immigrant to American? The answer then was the same as it is now: they learned English. |
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Believe it or not, back in the year 1900, a whopping 29% of Minnesotans were foreign-born and speaking native languages other than English at home.6 One hundred years later, about the time we started to notice all these exotic new strangers among us, the percentage of immigrants in our state had actually fallen dramatically——to 5.3%.7 Only 5.7% of that number reported that they could speak little or no English.8 Since 2000, the number of immigrants moving into Minnesota annually has increased, and so has the need for English language education. Meeting that challenge head-on is the mission of Learning In Style, the English language school run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
Learning In Style (LIS) is housed on the second floor of the Calvary Baptist Church building in South Minneapolis, in a neighborhood that has become heavily and obviously ethnic. “Most of our students live so close they walk to school,” says LIS Director, Sister Agnes Foley. No one knows for sure how many students are enrolled at any one time because, as Sister Agnes says, “Life happens to immigrants more unpredictably than it does to us.” That makes steady attendance problematic for some. But she calculates that there are 20 to 25 native languages being spoken in the hallways everyday. Indeed, right before classes begin for the day, the hustle-bustle in the timeworn hallways——the sounds, the colors, the textures——is reminiscent of a busy marketplace in some far-off land.
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The map of the world. On the wall just outside the community kitchen, a large world map is posted for everyone to see. Every time a student arrives from a country of origin that’s new to LIS, a red dot is stuck to that location on the map. Today that map is awash in red dots spread over 5 continents. | It’s plain to see there is hardly a country on earth that has not been represented here at LIS since it opened its doors in 1994. Continued...
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