If You Go
MONROE - The UW Extension Offices of Green and Lafayette counties and the Green County Latino Needs Council will host the Rural Immigration Summit from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17 at Monroe United Methodist Church.
The purpose of the summit is to provide accurate and relevant information about immigrants, the causes of immigration, the economic impact of immigration and an overview of the laws affecting immigration.
There is a $20 fee for attending the summit; the fee includes the cost of registration materials, snacks and lunch.
Interested participants may contact the Green County UW Extension office at 328-9440 or visit www.uwex.edu/ces/cty/green for more information.
MONROE - "Learning about the culture is as important as learning the language" is the classroom philosophy of Michelle Lindstrom, Spanish teacher at Black Hawk High School.
"If they ever go to a country where they can use their Spanish, they need a love for and an interest in the culture in order to survive," she said about her students.
Knowing the language is important for work, school and medical treatment, if not just for the ease of adjusting to the culture of another country, she said.
She sees the same difficulties arise when immigrants come to the United States.
Lindstrom works with the Latino population as an interpreter for Head Start, Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County and Lafayette County Human Services. She was also part of the efforts of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Darlington a couple years ago.
The biggest obstacle to learning English for immigrants is the class times conflicting with work schedules, she said. Even a couple hours in the evening once or twice a week is too difficult for some people. Classes start in January with 20-25 people, but the numbers dwindle, especially among farm workers, to five or six by May. She would like to see efforts made to offer English classes on the job, during breaks or lunch time.
"Their priority is work. But after working 12-14 hours a day, they're tired," Lindstrom said.
A couple years ago, most of the students were young, single males, but now Lafayette County is seeing an influx of more families.
For the older workers, learning English is more difficult. Those who have to work closely with others learn faster out of necessity. Parents learn from their children who attend school and pick up the language faster, but they tend to rely on their children to interpret for them.
But problems of understanding arise when medical attention is needed, as Lindstrom learned from her own experience when she got sick in Puerto Rico and needed an interpreter.
"I knew quite a bit of Spanish, enough to get around on buses and to call home," she said. "But it's more comforting to be able to speak in your own language when you're sick."
Children and new speakers of a language can't fully communicate with a doctor. They have limited vocabularies, and children's vocabularies cannot handle all the medical terms at times, Lindstrom said.
"Kids don't know all the body parts. They may speak English, but can only tell the doctor Mom's stomach hurts," she said.
For parent-teacher conferences, "teachers prefer to have a neutral person between them and the parents," Lindstrom said.
"Teachers don't know what the kids are saying to parents," she laughed. "The teacher may say, 'Your child needs to settle down and get to work,' and the student may tell their parents, 'Oh, she said I am doing very well.' It's definitely better with a neutral person."
Integrating into a community is easier if immigrants know some English, Lindstrom said.
"It depends on the families. Some integrate a little, but have kids. But then there are ones who don't want to integrate. They are comfortable sticking with their friends and culture," Lindstrom said. "English helps, but a lot are content socially with their Spanish-speaking people," she said.
As the Hispanic population of Lafayette County has risen, Lindstrom has seen her hometown of Darlington help by having Mexican or Latin dances with Spanish music. The Cinco de Mayo fest drew in people from both Hispanic-Latino and American cultures. The Canoe Fest was equally well attended. She called the festivals "bridge-makers."
Hispanics were surprised to see Americans at the 2007 Cinco de Mayo fest, she said.
"It opened a lot of people's eyes," Lindstrom said. "They were saying, 'People are interested in our culture.'"
"If they ever go to a country where they can use their Spanish, they need a love for and an interest in the culture in order to survive," she said about her students.
Knowing the language is important for work, school and medical treatment, if not just for the ease of adjusting to the culture of another country, she said.
She sees the same difficulties arise when immigrants come to the United States.
Lindstrom works with the Latino population as an interpreter for Head Start, Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County and Lafayette County Human Services. She was also part of the efforts of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Darlington a couple years ago.
The biggest obstacle to learning English for immigrants is the class times conflicting with work schedules, she said. Even a couple hours in the evening once or twice a week is too difficult for some people. Classes start in January with 20-25 people, but the numbers dwindle, especially among farm workers, to five or six by May. She would like to see efforts made to offer English classes on the job, during breaks or lunch time.
"Their priority is work. But after working 12-14 hours a day, they're tired," Lindstrom said.
A couple years ago, most of the students were young, single males, but now Lafayette County is seeing an influx of more families.
For the older workers, learning English is more difficult. Those who have to work closely with others learn faster out of necessity. Parents learn from their children who attend school and pick up the language faster, but they tend to rely on their children to interpret for them.
But problems of understanding arise when medical attention is needed, as Lindstrom learned from her own experience when she got sick in Puerto Rico and needed an interpreter.
"I knew quite a bit of Spanish, enough to get around on buses and to call home," she said. "But it's more comforting to be able to speak in your own language when you're sick."
Children and new speakers of a language can't fully communicate with a doctor. They have limited vocabularies, and children's vocabularies cannot handle all the medical terms at times, Lindstrom said.
"Kids don't know all the body parts. They may speak English, but can only tell the doctor Mom's stomach hurts," she said.
For parent-teacher conferences, "teachers prefer to have a neutral person between them and the parents," Lindstrom said.
"Teachers don't know what the kids are saying to parents," she laughed. "The teacher may say, 'Your child needs to settle down and get to work,' and the student may tell their parents, 'Oh, she said I am doing very well.' It's definitely better with a neutral person."
Integrating into a community is easier if immigrants know some English, Lindstrom said.
"It depends on the families. Some integrate a little, but have kids. But then there are ones who don't want to integrate. They are comfortable sticking with their friends and culture," Lindstrom said. "English helps, but a lot are content socially with their Spanish-speaking people," she said.
As the Hispanic population of Lafayette County has risen, Lindstrom has seen her hometown of Darlington help by having Mexican or Latin dances with Spanish music. The Cinco de Mayo fest drew in people from both Hispanic-Latino and American cultures. The Canoe Fest was equally well attended. She called the festivals "bridge-makers."
Hispanics were surprised to see Americans at the 2007 Cinco de Mayo fest, she said.
"It opened a lot of people's eyes," Lindstrom said. "They were saying, 'People are interested in our culture.'"