North Harris College ESL students celebrate end of semester with color and cuisine
North Harris College’s English as a Second Language (ESL) students recently celebrated the end of the spring semester by hosting an international party featuring foods and costumes from around the world.

Participants were encouraged to bring an original recipe from their country and to wear their traditional homeland costumes, which brought a colorful array of fabrics, styles and international foods to the campus.

“In the past six years, our ESL program has help more than 5,000 individuals representing at least 50 countries to learn English,” says Erin Desouza, NHC’s ESL student. “Our students’ backgrounds range from global executives needed to master the English language for business to students without high school or formal education that are seeking English skills to obtain a better job.”
 
The college’s Center for International Education and Languages (CIEL) offers ESL in a wide variety of formats to fit anyone’s schedule or level of English proficiency. Courses include Intensive 8-week sessions, which meet 4 to 5 times a week; 16-week classes, which gather 2 times a week, days or evenings; and conversation courses, which meet 2 times a week in the evenings.
 
Non-native English speaking students can take credit ESL, which focuses on academically bound students and emphasizes preparation for college study. And, those students who already have a college or university degree, can study through NHC’s continuing education division, which is designed for professionals, participants preparing to enter careers requiring English proficiency, and those seeking general broad-based English skill development without college entrance as a focus.

This semester’s ESL students included Shahida Almani and her brother Almani Ashfaque Ali, both from Pakistan. "Back in Pakistan I was a professional banker, and my brother was a land owner and computer technician," says Almani. "We are taking ESL to become more comfortable with the English language in order to communicate better and become more at ease in the United States."
 
Maya Santhosh, from India, decided to take ESL through North Harris College because she was not comfortable with her level of English skills. And, she wanted to meet other people who had immigrated into the states from India and the mid-east.
 
For more information about any of the ESL classes offered through North Harris College CIEL, call 281-765-7822.
 
The college is located at 2700 W.W. Thorne Drive, approximately one-half mile south of FM 1960 East, between Aldine-Westfield and Hardy Roads. Registration for summer and fall 2002 is now in progress. For more information, call 291-618-5400 or e-mail: [email protected]

North Harris Montgomery Community College District, the fourth largest community college in Texas, comprises North Harris College, Kingwood College, Tomball College, Montgomery College, seven satellite centers and The University Center. Cy-Fair College, the district’s fifth comprehensive college, will open in fall 2003.