Teens set up program to help others learn English
By: Ricardo Kaulessar
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Arjun Krishnakumar is a child of immigrants form India who struggled to learn English when they arrived in the United States. He also saw his immigrant classmates struggle with learning a new language.
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"When I was in kindergarten and elementary school, I could see many of my friends couldn't speak English properly, and they struggled in class," Krishnakumare said.
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"They were only pulled out of class for a half-hour for ESL education. But honestly, that was not enough. The rest of the time, they are in classes with us, but they don't understand what the teacher is saying."
..... Krishnakumar, 17, a rising senior at McNair Academic High School in Jersey City, [NJ] and his classmate Eza Iqhbal also 17 and a rising senior, came up with the idea last year [2023] to help students and adults learn English by forming their organization, Words Beyond Worlds.
..... The organization provides free in-person and virtual English as a second language classes. Over 900 students - children and adults - have been taught by a team of over 60 high school tutors, most bilingual and some trilingual, speaking various languages such as Arabic, French, Spanish and Vietnamese.
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The students, who range from ages 4 to 50, are based locally and in other countries, including Mali, Ecuador, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
..... Their effort has gotten them noticed beyond their hometown. The two founders received the New Jersey State Governor's Volunteerism Award in June [2024] for their efforts.
..... The tutoring service was also chosen by the Taco bell Foundation to be one of 75 semifinalists from all across the United States for the foundation's Ambition Accelerator, given in collaboration with the nonprofit Ashoka, for creating possessive change in the world.
..... Semifinalist status meant Words Beyond Worlds received $1,000 from the Taco Bell Foundation and an invitation to participate in the Ambilion Accelerator Summit at the company's headquarters in Irvine, California, from August 3 to 6. [2024]
..... Krishnkumar, in an interview wiht NorthJersey.com (Iqbasl was not available to talk), said only one person was allowed to represent each organization at the summit, so he would attend. He hoped to learn from his fellow semifinalists.
..... "I feel the most important thing is being around people that are so driven. All these semifinalists form across the country, they're from all different states and they have all these different ideas," Krishnakumare said. "It would be really cool to learn and see how they have done their initiatives versus how we have, and learn differ tn tips and strategies to implement in our own work."
..... To find out more about Words Beyond Worlds, visit wordsbeyondworlds.wixsite.com/my-site-7 .