English Skills Learning Center

Here’s what some of our current tutors have said about volunteering:

“All [of my tutoring experiences] were amazing. The women I tutored were so sweet and appreciative. They fed me well, had parties for me and gave me little presents. They invited me to their homes. I wish I could have done more for them. The main thing they did is open my eyes to how we need to help them to be independent rather than doing things for them… So, as always happens in volunteering, I have learned as much from my students as they have learned from me.” –Susan

“I enjoy feeling connected to the community, like I’m contributing to a better lifestyle for refugees…and having the opportunity to expose my children to a wide variety of people so they can cherish all people.” –Regan

“I’ve absolutely loved getting to know someone from another culture! I tutor people from Burundi, Africa. Even though we don’t communicate in the same language, we have managed to communicate through other means. It is amazing to get to know someone’s personality without speaking the same language. I’ve been learning their language and they’ve been learning English! We have such a great time together…The ESL Center has been incredibly supportive in every way. They have provided me with materials, advice when I needed it and have responded to all my questions when asked.” –Kelly

“I have found it very rewarding and enjoyable to work with the people involved with the program, the students who are so very eager to learn and very appreciative of our work, and the ESLC staff who are very devoted to helping individuals and families improve their circumstance through learning English.” –Nancy

How to Become a Volunteer:

Volunteers are the vehicle through which our organization delivers our service and they are our most valuable asset. Our volunteers may work in any of our many ESL programs, and we could always use help with other projects as well. We provide tutor trainings for all of our volunteers, which are held several times throughout the year. Our trainings teach new volunteers how to instruct and interact with adults from different cultures who have little or no English skills.

We ask that our volunteers work with their student twice a week for an hour each for at least sixty hours (about six months). Most tutors complete at least one full year of tutoring and several value the experience so much that they have been volunteering with us for many years.

Our next tutor training will be held:

Monday, July 27 from 6-9 pm
Wednesday, July 29 from 6-9 pm
Monday, August 3 from 6-9 pm
Wednesday, August 5 from 6-9 pm

The following training session will be held:

Thursday, September 10 from 6-9 pm
Saturday, September 12 from 6-9 pm
Thursday, September 17 from 6-9 pm
Saturday, September 19 from 6-9 pm

All sessions will be here at our Center, 641 W. North Temple, Suite 70. We do require that you attend all four training sessions. If you need to miss a session, please let us know and we work with you to make it up at another time. There is an initial fee for training materials and a necessary background check for our volunteers, but other than that our services are free to both the tutor and the student. The fee is $40 for the training materials and $10 for the background check, but if you pay before the training begins, you receive a $5 discount.

If you would like to sign up for this training or are interested in attending a future training, please contact Beth at 801-328-5608 or at  b.garstka@eslcenter.org

Thank you for your desire to serve!