Language is a funny thing. One of the things that I love best about teaching English is learning how to make connections through language. During our clothing unit, I had a student who consistently mispronounced the word suit as ‘sweet’. She did it 100 times and I finally threatened her with the tiny leather sandal a former student brought me back from Mexico. ‘La Chancla’ was a vocabulary word on my word wall during our word unit.

Anyway, I listened carefully for her to mispronounce it when they were working in groups and loudly corrected her until it became a classroom joke between us. She would say ‘sweet’ and then I would slap my forehead while everyone else chuckled. On Thursday, we came across the word ‘suitcase’ and Maria said ‘sweetcase’ and the whole class burst out laughing.

Even though my students’ English learning is in process, we can use it to make connections with one another. It is devastatingly simple.

***

This summer, I took a substitute job teaching a multilevel ESL class at a local mosque.

I don’t remember her name but she was an older Muslim woman with delicate silver glasses perched on her nose. She…did not speak much English but she was an eager learner.

On this particular day, I split the class into advanced and beginner groups. I got the advanced students moving on their work while the beginner students studied the colors and articles of clothing.

I was going over the colors with the beginners when we got to the word “purple”.

“What color is this?” I pointed to a gauche purple skirt suit in our picture dictionary.

“Burble,” she quipped confidently.

I shook my head. “Pur-ple,” I leaned towards her, exaggerating the movement of my lips to show how they give a soft breath of air instead of the vibration.

She leaned towards me, “Burble.”

We went in circles a few more times.

I thought for a second. “Say p-p-p,” I softly whispered, emphasizing the bilabial lip motion needed to produce the sound.

“p-p-p”, she said.

“YES!” I yelled as we cheered for her.

“Now, pur-ple,” I murmured, keeping my voice quiet so the p sound was the most important.

“Purple“ she whispered as she smiled across the table.

Later in class, I was reviewing everyone together and we got to a purple article of clothing. I pointed at her near the back and she smiled and whispered, “purple“.

On my last day at the mosque, the students brought me some beautiful dresses and a forest green coffee tumbler. They were really sad to see me go. The student that learned to say the ‘p’ sound with me came to hug me, leaned in, and whispered, ‘purple‘. We both laughed as we embraced.

She and I have almost nothing in common. We certainly don’t speak the same language but we were able to forge a connection over the very simple idea of the ‘p’ sound.

I’ve been in adult education for 12 years now, mostly English as a Second Language. I know that my job puts me in very close proximity to people that many don’t get to interact with. My students are the night janitors, the housekeepers, the roofers, the people waiting for the bus.

My students often feel invisible. Of course, sometimes that feels safe- especially in today’s political climate, but it also leaves them feeling like they aren’t a full part of American society. I have students who have been here for 10 years that have never garnered the courage to meet their English-speaking neighbors. Sometimes, they’re incredibly lonely- having left everything and everyone behind in their home countries.

One of my favorite things that I do is getting them out in the community to show them that they are welcome here, English-speaking or not. A few years ago, I signed us up to participate in our local Christmas parade. Most had never attended a parade in the US, much less been in one, but they showed up, dressed to the nines with kids and husbands in tow. The parade was magic. I watched our community welcome them- smile at the babies, wave and clap, shout “Merry Christmas”. I watched my students feel embraced by their chosen home.

I do it every year now and every year, it’s a very ‘purple’ experience- a very simple interaction that is much more meaningful than it appears. Those ‘purple’ moments really do make me feel more human. I’m just a tiny blip in this very big world, but I’m not alone. I feel less alone when I can make a connection- if we can both share a smile or agree that purple is a weird word or groan that today is a Monday.

I hope to make ‘purple’ connections more often in the future.

“Words are a pretext. It is the inner bond that draws one person to another, not words.”
― Rumi