PORTLAND — Receiving one-on-one tutoring in English is a crucial step for new Mainers who want to improve their communication skills.

Often that help is provided by LearningWorks, a West End nonprofit that offers a variety of free education programs, including English language learner and literacy tutoring.

But there are not enough tutors to go around. There’s currently a waitlist of about 30 people hoping to be matched with a tutor, according to Cora Ordway, volunteer manager at LearningWorks.

She said all a tutor must have is the ability to work independently, patiently and some “cultural humility,” while also being willing to learn as much from their student as they’re teaching.

Ordway said LearningWorks provides online training videos, a two-hour orientation, resource materials and other support. A minimum commitment of 1 1/2 hours a week for at least six months is required.

“I think the best way to learn English is to have a good tutor that you can trust,” said Matshou Etete, a 24-year-old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who came to Maine about a year ago.

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Etete said he hopes to become a doctor one day. He said his tutor, Hannah Kramer, is “a sweet person” who helps him improve his English and “get more understanding, (so) I can talk to anybody.”

Working with Kramer over the past four months, Etete said, “I’ve learned more things about American life and American people. I’m glad of this.”

Kramer, 28, who lives in South Portland, said she first heard about the need for tutors at LearningWorks through a friend. She’d done some one-off type volunteering before, such as serving at the Preble Street soup kitchen, and at first wasn’t sure she had the time to be a tutor.

But, she said, “I’m so glad I did it. This has been one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done. Matshou is so bright and kind and dedicated. And I’m learning a lot about myself and a lot about teaching.”

Kramer has a sociology degree from the University of Southern Maine and is considering a career teaching English to immigrants and refugees. Right now she has multiple jobs, including her own electronic recycling business called Computer Be Gone.

She’s also studying French on her own and specifically requested a French-speaking student. One reason Kramer thought tutoring at LearningWorks might be a good fit for her, she said, is that “I really enjoy languages.”

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Kramer said the staff at LearningWorks has been extremely helpful, including helping her to understand what some of the challenges might be and reassuring her that she could succeed. 

“I think anyone with compassion and patience can be a good tutor,” Kramer added. “There’s definitely a need for tutors. I know there’s a long waiting list and the first thing that Matshou said to me was, ‘I’ve been waiting a long time’ for a tutor.”

Kramer said she and Etete often meet for about two hours in person and then they also have a short conversation over the phone once a week. That’s because “talking on the phone is a very different aspect of the English language,” she said.

While LearningWorks has “lots of resources and suggestions” for lesson planning, Kramer has found lessons online that work well. She usually picks a topic or theme, like beauty, for each session.

“We also practice vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and listening,” Kramer said. “What’s great is that we’re about the same age and we both like music, so we relate really well.”

“I tell people all the time about my experience being a tutor,” she said. “If you show up, if you care, if you try, that’s more than enough. I would encourage anyone who might be interested to look into it.”

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Other items on the LearningWorks wish list include bus passes for students and gift cards for groceries.

“The vast majority of our students come from underprivileged families and face barriers that hinder the learning process, including limited access to transportation, food insecurity, homelessness, and more,” the agency said in a press release.

Overall, the agency’s “primary goal is to support academic and personal success for our neighbors who lack resources and/or fall outside traditional educational structures,” LearningWorks says on its website.

Kate Irish Collins can be reached at 710-2336 or kcollins@theforecaster.net. Follow Kate on Twitter: @KIrishCollins.

Hannah Kramer, 28, of South Portland, tutors an English language learner from the Congo at LearningWorks on Portland’s West End. The agency needs volunteer tutors and has a waiting list of students who want one-on-one instruction.


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