Martha Calle, a baby sitter from Colombia, wants to own her own day care.
Daniel Esgralo, a landscaper from Mexico, wants to be able to express himself.
Surrounded by signs that read responsibility, fairness and trustworthiness, Esteban Martinez, a house framer from Mexico, listens intently.
"This is the best tool, I think, to understand the community," he said.
Thousands of adults use free English as a Second Language classes throughout the state so they can teach their children and advance at work.
Calle, Esgralo and Martinez study through a N.C. Community College System program that is funded by taxpayer money and does not check the legal status of its students.
On Tuesday and Thursday nights, they leave work and sit in small chairs meant for Sunday school children at University Presbyterian Church on Franklin Street.
"Sometimes they're motivated because this is something they need," Durham Technical Community College ESL Program Director Karin Abell said.
"Sometimes they're motivated because this is something they've wanted to do for a long time."
Difficulty assimilating
Martinez knew some English when he came to the United States 14 years ago and now speaks clearly despite a Mexican accent.
But many in the Durham Tech classes throughout Durham and Orange counties enter without literacy even in their native languages.
The beginners struggle to address an envelope or fill out a check. Advanced student Olga Bondareva said she had trouble buying groceries when she first came from Russia two years ago.
She didn't know the difference between kilograms and pounds when she purchased diapers for her then-2-year-old daughter.
"When I opened it, it was big Pampers," she said with a self-depreciating laugh.
For parents, it can be difficult to talk to children's teachers or help with even the easiest homework.
"I really need it for my childrens in the school," Edith Resendiz said.
Resendiz, who has taken ESL classes for four years, encouraged her brother-in-law, Esgralo, to come to classes because he can't even order pizza, she said.
Immigrants who don't speak English must find other individuals to speak on their behalf, said Ben Balderas, executive director of El Centro Latino, a Carrboro nonprofit which helps with housing and educational concerns.
Legal documentation
In Martinez's class, there is a student from Sweden, refugees from Myanmar and a woman from Iran.
But the colleges do nothing to check students' legal documentation, N.C. Community College System spokewoman Audrey Bailey said.
Because students don't have to confirm N.C. residency, the community colleges don't ask about a student's citizenship for ESL classes.
"These are people who come to us seeking an opportunity to learn," Bailey said. "It's a very hard, very important thing that's being done … to allow these people to communicate and survive."
And Abell said documentation requirements would prevent recent refugees and others from immediately receiving the services.
"I might not be able to help people at the moment where they need the most help," she said.
Balderas worries the ESL classes might encounter the same opposition community colleges faced when they announced in December that undocumented students can attend school if they pay out-of-state tuition.
"I'm a little concerned about what reaction would be about opening up education regardless of documentation," he said.
William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, said there is a greater incentive for undocumented individuals to return home if the American government isn't paying for English lessons.
The ESL classes are paid for with roughly 20 percent federal funds and 80 percent state funds.
The Basic Skills Program, of which ESL is a part, costs about $80 million. There isn't a breakdown of the ESL program's cost, Bailey said.
That money is provided to ensure basic education to reach self-sufficiency, and its current use is in accordance with the community college system's mission, she said.
Gheen, whose political action committee claims more than 25,000 members, said there is strong opposition to government services, such as the ESL classes, for the undocumented.
"The main taxpayer benefit we support for illegal aliens is an air-conditioned, provisioned bus ride back to their home country, which is what the majority of Americans … support," Gheen said.
'Fear'
Although the number of immigrants in the state continues to rise, the enrollment in the ESL classes has declined from 41,672 in 2001-02 to 31,462 for 2006-07.
Fear has caused this slow decrease, Bailey said. Police reportedly arrested a man at an eastern N.C. community college, she said.
"In trying to improve their livelihood … they put themselves in jeopardy," she said.
Abell brought up immigration in one class when she first started teaching and had 15 fewer students attend the next session, she said.
Even so, Durham Tech's ESL program has bucked the statewide enrollment trend. About 26 percent more students enrolled in 2007-08 than the year before.
Most of the attendees at the Tuesday and Thursday night classes at University Presbyterian come after a full day's work and many must find baby sitters for their children.
Durham Tech provides 75 classes in 19 different locations and tries to offer times that fit most schedules, but still many students struggle to attend consistently.
"There's not just work issues," said Audrey Berlowitz, who teaches an advanced class. "There's childcare issues. There's car issues."
American Dream
Activists like Gheen depict recent Latino immigrants as unwilling to assimilate to U.S. culture.
But the students at University Presbyterian seem to paint a different picture.
"Do they really know the people that they are talking about?" Abell asked. "It makes me wonder if they are aware that (ESL students) stand in line for class."
Resendiz wants to learn because everyone here speaks English.
"Sometimes I need to speak like an American," she said with a laugh.
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
