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International teachers get language skills, community from library ELL courses

Beatriz Rodriguez Cordero (center left) and Luis Alonso Izquierdo (center right) pose for a photo with their children in front of the Boston Marathon sign.

Beatriz Rodriguez Cordero and Luis Alonso Izquierdo knew very little English when they arrived in Hopkinton four years ago.

“It was a headache every time we went to work because we had to be so focused,” said Cordero. She and Izquierdo, who came from Spain to teach in the Framingham school system, knew they needed help acquiring the language and learning about the town. On a chance trip to the library, they met Barbara Champney.

At the time, Champney — a member of the Friends of the Hopkinton Public Library — was working to set up the library’s English Language Learners (ELL) program. Cordero and Izquierdo became two of the earliest participants and have been involved with the program ever since.

“These two people have contributed greatly to our community,” said Champney. “It was my pleasure to meet them in the very beginning as we were staring our ELL program.”

Cordero said the library’s ELL classes were helpful because the students were having real conversations and learning from each other. She and Izquierdo also were getting valuable information about American culture and the local community. She noted early frustrations over where to take their son for basketball.

Izquierdo offered another example of their struggles in the beginning, recounting difficulties in going out to eat when menus were difficult to understand.

Having instruction and peer support in the ELL classes proved beneficial to the couple. “We were getting to know the people and getting to know the community,” said Cordero. “They were so useful and so nice.”

Champney lauded the pair for their success in the program, and noted they have given back by teaching multiple Spanish classes as part of the library’s lifelong learning program. “We became friends because they had so much to offer to us,” she added.

Cordero and Izquierdo came to Hopkinton with their two children, now aged 14 and 17, as part of an exchange program between the Spanish government and the United States. After getting an extension on their stay, they plan to head back to Spain in July.

“We decided it was good timing,” said Cordero.

The couple noted that the friends they have met through the ELL program will stick with them when they return to Spain. “They are … part of our experience,” Cordero said.

“It’s not just about us — it’s about the group, and what makes a community,” she said of the impact of the ELL program.

— NICK SCHOFIELD

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Residents are advised to avoid activities at Lake Maspenock for part of next week after it is treated with herbicide on Tuesday.

This week’s Baypath Adoptable Animal is Lola, an 8-year-old dog who loves spending time with people and other dogs and loves to play fetch.

Richard Lawton, 68, died June 1. He was the former owner of Rick’s Place Comics & Collectibles in Hopkinton.

Photo of the Day

Sailboats are anchored in the water near the boathouse at Hopkinton State Park.

PHOTO/NICK SCHOFIELD