It’s 9 pm on a Monday, and Alamnseh sits at the kitchen table in Jonathan House. She pours over an English packet on the table. With thick glasses perched on her nose, her finger guides across the black letters as she sounds them out. Her housemate passes by and tells her, “Alamnseh, good student.” Upon hearing the compliment, she laughs and says, “No good student. Old woman.”
At the age of 60, she is learning a language again. The rest of us at the women’s Jonathan House tell her that she is not old and that she is a good student. She is young, and when we say that it makes her laugh. We explain that although she has been taking beginner English during the four years she has lived at Jonathan House, being a good student is someone who tries regardless of what level they are at, regardless of what age they are. She is young and strong for starting over in many ways to live in the US.
It’s Never too Late to Learn a Language
Almost 50 years after her last time at school, Almanseh has found a classroom at the International Institute. In February 2019, Alamnseh began literacy classes with no prior experience in English. She started timid, learning letters and practicing basic skills like holding a pencil. Since then, Alamnseh has continued to be in her “Beginner English” class, striving to learn her third language and overcoming significant barriers in her way. Through it all she is dedicated. Her teacher, Stacy Dietrich Varney, Languages Program Manager and English for Work Instructor at the International Institute expressed:
“It is rare that someone who starts with no literacy in their 50s perseveres to her level of learning; language learning becomes so difficult as we age. As a literacy teacher for almost a decade, I have no other student with which to compare Alamnseh.”
This last Fall, Alamnseh was awarded a certificate for over 1,500 hours of studying English at the International Institute. The award was proudly displayed and shared by passing around a picture of her and the certificate to many friends. When sharing what the award means to her, Alamnseh explained, “It makes me really happy, and proud, and gives me encouragement to keep studying.”
The stakes feel high for Almanseh. Her deepest hope is to be granted asylum and be reunited with her family after six years apart, something that has taken much longer than she ever anticipated. And in this waiting, she practices English.
A Community of Transformation
What the public might not see at Jonathan House are the women sitting down at the table together, helping one another with a language that is at varying degrees of new to them. After a third or fourth attempt at pronouncing a word, the room may erupt in laughter together at how unashamed and fearless you must be to try again, and that is Alamnseh.
Much of her success she attributes to her teachers at the International Institute and the resources at Jonathan House. “Jonathan House has helped me by encouraging me, by sitting down and teaching me, by telling me, ‘it’s okay, you’re going to learn. It’s going to be difficult, but it is going to be useful. Just be patient, we are here for you.’”
Alamnseh, too, has encouraged many of us never to give up. “I don’t know if she knows it but knowing her has made me a better teacher and overall person,” shared Alamnseh’s teacher, Stacy.
With over 1,500 hours of English practice accomplished, nothing changes for Alamnseh. In the evening she will sit down and pick up her English packet again and softly sound out words to herself. It’s in these quiet moments of self-study that her determination shines the most. Jonathan House is honored to stand with and witness the remarkable resilience of people like Alamnseh and celebrate the successes of personal goals being accomplished as residents choose to fearlessly build a future in the US.
