Global Grace Hosts ESL Picnics

Global Grace just completed another summer series of ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, held on Monday evenings at GVCC. The series was hosted by Milo and Molly Bravo and provided an excellent opportunity for fun and informal language learning. Each class began with a meal and was followed by a short lesson taught by Ms. Nancy Maffly. These topics were expanded upon within small groups comprised of language learners and helpers. For example, in a lesson about idioms we were able to explain: “burning the midnight oil,” “head over heels,” and many other common English sayings. In another class, we went over homophones and had fun discussing the differences between words like “due,” “dew” and “do” or “cent,” “scent” and “sent.” Other topics that were covered this summer included contractions, abbreviations and holidays.

We were delighted to have a number of English learners come to our ESL classes and get to know the members of our church through these informal lessons. In addition to the benefit to the language learners, these classes also provided the many helpers with insights into different cultures. One of the helpers said her favorite part was “learning about other cultures and meeting new people.” Another helper said she was “simply awe-struck by their experiences, which we would never have known otherwise.”

So the learning in our ESL classes goes both ways. The classes have been very enjoyable and have been a wonderful way to build strong relationships with others in our community here in Davis. We appreciate the Bravos and Ms. Maffly for their work on this outreach and pray for continued fruit during the weekly Global Grace meetings at church on Sunday mornings at 9am.

This post was contributed by Laura Colvin.