Leticia Castanon concentrated on the difference between the words “must” and “should” scribbled on a white board in a McHenry County College classroom.
If she wants to master the English language, she should study, the 45-year-old wife and mother thought.
And if she wants to get a job that pays better than her current gig in fast food, Castanon, a Mexican immigrant, told herself she must learn English.
“I need it to better understand people,” Castanon said. “I started five or six years ago learning English.”
There are four people in Castanon’s English as a Second Language course at McHenry County College, and more than 540 in all ESL classes college-wide, school enrollment data shows.
Just shy of 87 percent of students enrolled in ESL classes are Hispanic. These students are among a growing group of Hispanics trudging through the nuances of the English language. READ MORE AT DIVERSE EDUCATION
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