August 13, 1999
It's hard to get a table at MiraCosta College's conversation Coffee Shop.
The "Coffee Shop"--actually just a humble class-room in MiraCosta's Adult Learning Center in Oceanside--has been an instant success since it started in July. Students form MiraCosta's noncredit English as a Second language classes have begun meeting on Friday mornings with vollunteers who are native speakers, converging in Room 3 where tables are set with checkered cloths and flower-filled vases. Fueled with donated coffee from Starbucks and pastries from the Grocery outlet, students and volunteers follow a con-versational "menu" handed to them by their apron clad ESL instructors, Debbie Hanley and Jayne Bernas-coni. The resulting din is almost deafening.
"There's never been anything like this before," says Hanley, who has taught ESL at MiraCosta for 20 years. "Students tell me this is the best thing they've ever done. It's a great way to get people to relax and talk."
"The ESL students--who are coming to the Coffee Shop on their own time--hail from countries including Venezuela, Argentina, Columbia, Poland, Japan, Mexico, Iran, and Taiwan. Volunteers are from Palomar Community Church, a seniors course that meets at the Adult learning Center, and MiraCosta's LIFE organization which hosts weekly activities for older adults at the Oceanside campus.
"This has been terrific, overwhelming," says Mildred Rose, a volunteer from the LIFE group. "It's so in-teresting to know about these people and their backgrounds and know they're trying so hard to overcome the language barrier. They're so enthusiastic."
Hanley got the idea for the coffee house format at a CATESOL conference (California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) held recently in Reno, Nevada. But Hanley came up with the menu concept, which provides
a conversational guide for students and volunteers--starting with "appetizer" topics to last about 20 minutes, "main course" subjects for 45 minutes, and "dessert" topics for 20 minutes. Afterwards, students take time to write about the experience in their journals.
"It's great. People like it," says Mehrengiz Purtee, an ESL student from Iran. "I am motivated to come back."
Purtee isn't the only one who is motivated. About 40 students and 14 volunteers packed the "coffee shop" during last Friday's get to-gether. Conversation was loud and constant. And ever-yone seemed to be having fun in the process of practicing the art of communication.
"It's these kind of connections that are important in the community," says Sylvia Ramirez, who has overseen the noncredit ESL program at MiraCosta for many years. "This goes way beyond language."
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