- Video shows native Spanish speakers practicing English, the Beale Memorial Library, and study materials.
- Instructor Zuri Maradiaga wants to help people feel more comfortable and confident in their ability to speak English, helping people like Maria who struggled to get her prescriptions at the pharmacy because of the language barrier.
Bridging gaps for community members in Kern County, that's one local instructor's goal when teaching beginner English classes for Spanish speakers at the Beale Memorial Library.
It's a small class of dedicated learners, all trying to learn English, and their teacher Zuri Maradiaga plans to help them get there.
“I think about when they get letters from their kids' school and it’s only in English how they must feel,” Maradiaga said.
That's a feeling she says she tries to eliminate through her lessons by encouraging her students and helping them gain confidence.
“If you’re a Spanish speaker, you're constantly bombarded with that every moment of your day in little doses so my dream would be to help get rid of those moments,” Maradiaga explains.
She helps people like Maria Eugenia Perez Tejada who moved to Bakersfield from Mexico in 2021.
She says she wanted to start learning when she moved her but never had the time.
“I live in the us, and I need to learn English,” Tejada said.
While living in the United States, it’s moments lost in translation and access to the classes at the library for free that pushed her to learn.
“When I went to the pharmacy for my medicines it was a lot of work to understand," she recalls. "So at first I used my translator to look up what I had to say.”
Fahra Daredia with Kern County Library says while offering citizenship classes, the library noticed an unmet need.
In response, the library began offering English classes to help with the English portions of the citizenship exams.
"Definitely making Kern County more accessible and helping those bridge that gap," Daredia said. "So whether it be a generation gap or just kind of helping people with the resources available.”
These classes went so well, residents began asking for beginner Spanish classes, and the Beale Memorial Library started offering those classes every Monday.
“Everyone’s welcome and I hope people see the value in this,” Maradiaga smiled.
If you would like to sign up for any of the language classes… you can visit thelibrary's websitefor more details.
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