Lost in translation

The first time Safak Agbas sat in American classroom, she stared helplessly at the teacher, thinking in her native language, “Oh my gosh, they are speaking so fast!”
A native of Turkey, Agbas was panic-stricken. She wouldn’t raise her hand, petrified that classmates would laugh if she spoke. At the same time, she was expected to compete with limited English skills.
“I was so scared,” she said. “I wanted to go back to my country at that time.”
Fast-forward four years. The Fort Walton Beach High School senior now plans to attend the University of West Florida for pre-med in the fall.
Without Fort Walton’s English to Speakers of other Language program (ESOL), “Dawn,” as her friends call her, said she would not have assimilated.
“If you don’t know English, it’s so hard top keep up with a class that has U.S. students,” she said.
There are 613 English language learners in the Okaloosa County School District. In 2000, there were fewer than 100.
Much of the growth can be attributed to Spanish speakers migrating to the area for construction work, district officials say. About 70 percent of ESOL students are native Spanish speakers.
But those numbers are expected to fall as construction projects move to neighboring Gulf Coast states.
Because of budget cuts and falling ESOL numbers, an immersion program that was piloted at Fort Walton Beach will end after this year.
Teachers hope ESOL students who remain aren’t lost in the shuffle.
“It’s just about killing me,” said Fort Walton Beach ESOL teacher Melissa Sudbery. “It’s the kids I’m worried about.”

Achieving the dream
For many students like Agbas, the first few months or even years in the United States can be daunting.
But teachers say it’s astounding how quickly children can overcome language barriers and move forward to higher education or into the workforce.
“Honestly, that’s amazing,” said Choctawhatchee High School ESOL teacher Adrina Segura.
Bilingual speakers are becoming a valuable commodity in the global marketplace, teachers say.
“A lot of them are super smart, but they just don’t know English yet,” Segura said of her students.
Like many immigrant families, the Agbases moved to the United States in search of better educational opportunities for their children.
In Turkey’s public schools, as many as 50 students sit elbow-to-elbow in a classroom, Agbas said.
The sheer number of students makes it difficult to hear and concentrate, she said. But the only alternative — an expensive private school —was not an option for the Agbas family.
Her father has sickle cell anemia and a botched surgery in Turkey made it very hard for him to hold a steady job.
After attaining the necessary paperwork, Agbas’ father brought the family to the United States and eventually settled in Fort Walton Beach.
Other students, like Juan Martinez, come to the classroom with some advantages.
When Martinez entered Choctaw four years ago, a dictionary became his lifeline.
Martinez, 17, was born in New Jersey, but his mother moved to Puerto Rico when he was 2-years-old.
His mother moved back to the United States four years ago. Martinez knew very little English.
Besides a few words like house or car, “I didn’t speak any English when I came here,” he said.
Fortunately for Martinez, English is his mother’s first language.
Although he was raised speaking Spanish, once he began learning English his mother only spoke English in their home.
“I think the best thing is to speak it with someone. Don’t worry if someone is going to make fun of you,” Martinez said.
Now he’s fluent in English and planning to attend college or enter the Air Force this fall.
For students like Agbas, whose parents are non-native speakers, learning English is more difficult. They already are afraid to speak English with their peers for fear of ridicule, and they have no one to practice with at home.
Jenny Calderone, the school district’s student services specialist, said every child who enters the district fills out a survey relating to their English competency.
Students who indicate a native language other than English must take oral or written proficiency tests at the district’s discretion.
Students who are literate in their native tongue are often more successful in learning English. It is more difficult to teach students who may have oral proficiency in their native tongue but can’t read or write in it.
“These students may have never held a book,” Calderone said.
Almost every school in the district has English language learners and their progress is monitored. But each school determines how they will serve its ESOL population. 
In 2007, children in Okaloosa County came from more than 48 countries and spoke more than 30 languages.
Local high schools have classes specifically for non-English speakers. Elementary-aged children don’t necessarily need the classes, because they absorb new information more quickly.
Calderone said it depends on the child.
“Some of them make friends right away; lots of hand gestures,” she said.
Often, students who don’t have classmates who speak their native language learn English more rapidly. That‘s because they have to.
For example, there is only one girl from Burma, or Myanmar, at Fort Walton Beach High School. In a relatively short time, her English greatly improved because there was no one else who speaks Burmese, Calderone said.
Students who have classmates who speak their language may not progress as quickly.
Martinez said he’s noticed that some of his Spanish-speaking classmates band together because they speak the same language.
“I think that does hinder them,” Calderone agreed.
But she also encourages students to use their first language. In today’s economy, bilingual skills are vital.
“I encourage them to keep native language and practice it all that you can,” she said.

ESOL cuts create gap
Recent state and local budget cuts may make it difficult for lower-level English language learners at Fort Walton Beach High School to get the help they need.
Although the school will continue to offer students one period of ESOL, the school’s Immersion ESOL program, which started only this year, has been cut.
That means students who were spending four hours a day on intensive English instruction will now have one period and be placed into regular classrooms for the rest of the day.
The immersion class is small with the varied levels of ability. There are about a dozen students in Fort Walton Beach’s ESOL program.
The numbers fluctuate because it’s such a transient population, Sudbery said.
Because of the varied levels of English competency, “that class is the hardest class I’ve ever had to teach in my life,” she said.
From reading medicine bottles to how to maneuver through a grocery store or how American culture views women, some of those students also have much more to learn than a language. 
When the students come from non-English speaking homes, the learning curve is massive.
“I have to teach them so much,” Sudbery said.
She said she will remain available for the students no matter what they need.
“I’ll be here. I’ll do whatever I can for them,” she said. “It’s a privilege to be in a program like this.”
If there is an influx of students with no English competency, the program could be reinstated, but it is up to the school, Calderone said.
“If we get the same number with zero English (skills), it would be reinstated,” Calderone said. “We can’t have a program if we only have one or two students.”
The numbers have stayed stagnant in the past year, and Calderone said they are expected to decline with the decrease in construction.
Three years ago, many fathers came to the area without their children and sent for them later, she added. Now the fathers have moved to nearby states for construction jobs, and are leaving their families here for now.
 “I’m envisioning they’re eventually going to send for their family,” Calderone said.
Agbas hopes the district will continue to help students such as her.
She remembers when she first felt like a competent English speaker.
Her father overheard her talking on the phone one day and said, “Oh, my gosh! You know English now. You spoke like an American.”
“You just realize, ‘I’m not scared anymore. I know English,’ ” Agbas said.
“I love it here more than my own country right now.”

Daily News Staff Writer Rachel Kyler can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1440.