Living and Learning in the Age of Covid19
I invited my adult ESL students to share their experiences during the pandemic and to submit to them to a national writing contest designed to give adult English Language learners a voice. They have graciously given me permission to share it with you all.
I hope that you take the time to hear their voice. These are often voices that people do not hear and they are often not given a voice.
Glory C.
“Today is my 3rd month of doing online learning. My ESL class has been moving to online class because of COVID-19. Every weekday, I join the online lecture. It saves me an hour a day because I don’t have to commute daily. If I don’t understand or I am missing something, I can re-watch the recorded video. For me, using a computer online is a piece of cake because I have a strong computer background.
Everything seems good for me. But “ wait a minute”, my 5 senses are beginning to complain. I can’t taste snacks with my classmates. We usually share with each other during breaktime. I can’t smell the odor of the school restroom although it is a little bit disgusting. I can’t hear people talking to each other in our school corridor. My teacher always brings some samples in class to help us learn. I can’t watch real samples in class. Also, I can’t touch and feel the difference between each of the samples. When will our normal class resume?”
Eva S.
“Canadians have been isolated for over 3 months. It's frustrating and challenging for many parents. Many parents gave up their child’s online learning. For me, it was daunting. I had no clue how to help my kids with my limited language and computer skills.
Luckily, everything started changing when my English teacher told us she would be available to teach us again. My life started shining again. It has been over 10 weeks now. She meets us online every weekday. She is encouraging and caring. We learned a lot of useful things. We also have small breakout rooms to discuss and share our thoughts. Online learning has become “My Best” on weekdays. I see the familiar faces on the screen. I hear classmates’ voices and laughing. It reduces my worries because I know no matter how rough the pandemic is, we can go through it together. Online learning is not only improving my English. It gave me more opportunities to communicate with my kids as well.
I appreciate our teacher for helping us connect together, and also thank the school board for supporting Adult ESL. Because of online learning, I don’t feel alone.”
Alfred Y.
“My life has changed since March due to the pandemic. COVID-19 turned the world upside down, and I can’t deny my fear and anxiety about the spread of the virus is overwhelming. The stay home order has turned my life monotonous. Everything feels blurry. At the same time, my values and beliefs are being crushed. It’s hard to believe that hugging and shaking hands is hazardous, visiting friends can be harmful, and staying too close with other people is dangerous.
The pandemic also forced me to learn and rethink; I learned how to study and shop online, accept a different way of living, and most importantly, I reexamined the value of life. COVID-19 is a wake-up call. It helped me separate what is meaningful and what is not. Whether you are rich or poor, powerful or insignificant, you cannot be exempted. In the past, I wished I could have a bigger house, a luxury car, and be wealthier. Now I realize that no matter how big your house is, it is just a bigger prison to quarantine in. No matter how luxurious your car is, it idles in the garage like any other car. What I treasure most now are some simple things I was not aware of and had taken for granted in the past. Staying safe with my family, having coffee with my friends, walking freely outside are more meaningful to me now.
The pandemic has given the world a lesson, but the ”tuition fee” is too costly. I hope everyone in the world learns it and finds what is most valuable, and eventually use this lesson to help to build a better and safer world in the future.”
Ivy P.
“I want to thank my great ESL teacher, in the time of the pandemic. I've received tremendous help and support from her by transforming a traditional class to a virtual class. That’s amazing! I’ve enjoyed not only online learning but also have gained tons of computer and life skills. With her dedication, persistence, and encouragement, I made it and attended my first ever virtual class. I can tell my teacher spends countless hours making online materials. This resulted in an interesting and relaxing friendly learning environment. Online learning is fascinating but challenging! The beauty of it is that I can do my homework and turn it in easily online - it isn’t as complex as I thought.
I have completely changed my learning and life habits in the time of COVID-19. I spend mornings learning online and do house chores in the afternoon as well as grocery runs once a week. I don't feel isolated and depressed at all because I feel we can get through it together with my teacher and my classmates- I’m not alone!”
Alice Y.
“Covid-19 has changed my lifestyle. As the pandemic continued to spread around Canada, the government decided to shut down all the schools and public facilities, including adult ESL classes. Although this is challenging, it has also given me the opportunity to have online English classes. I didn't realize that they not only can build up my English knowledge, but it also lets me learn skills useful for life. I was afraid of learning new tech but I found out that online learning is interesting. It is a good way to save time and money for me, too.
For personal reasons, I had to return to my own country. The laws are quite different. Every returning citizen must quarantine for 14 days. During this time of isolation, I felt overwhelmed and frustrated. The online ESL class was the most anticipated moment of the day for me to get through this tough time. I am happy about having online classes even though I am so far away. I cherish this opportunity to learn. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. We will get through this difficult time and will learn how to cope with this pandemic.”
Shijie
“The ESL online course has brought me a brand new experience which I never expected. This is the first time I have studied online and I didn't know how to do it. I was worried. My ESL teacher taught us how to do it. She also conducted online tutoring in the afternoon, so that each student can gradually master online teaching skills.
Online classes are not as good as the physical class. Students like me are inclined to be lazy or sneak off but my teacher made me expect to learn something new every day. Now my English is gradually getting better. It is fascinating, but can be frustrating sometimes. I will feel disappointed if there is no class. Some people are getting crazy or lazy or bored at home. I am not to regard it as right. The interaction between my classmates and teacher is very active. I exchange the learning content with my wife and son, which is also a very pleasant thing. Sometimes when I meet my neighbors, I would also use a few slang words that I had just learnt. It makes me happy.
I thank the school board for having online classes! Thanks to such a nice teacher who can teach us conscientiously, and make me feel able to integrate into Canadian life.”
Ben
“Every morning we hear this online from our ESL teacher: “Good Morning Everyone! How are you doing?” During this Covid19 period, we have to stay home. School closed. My ESL teacher started online class and we had live classes every morning! We can see our teacher and see each other; we can hear each other and discuss interesting questions in Breakout Rooms. Trying to use Quizlet and Edpuzzle and learning new words. We learn about reading responses, observations, insights, inferences, connections, and opinions. We learn about Avatars, media bias, social media. All of our classmates are excited and joyful. Everyday our teacher spent more time preparing for online class than normal class. We all love her class very much. We are active and positive.”
I hope that you take the time to hear their voice. These are often voices that people do not hear and they are often not given a voice.
Living and learning in the age of COVID 19
Glory C.
“Today is my 3rd month of doing online learning. My ESL class has been moving to online class because of COVID-19. Every weekday, I join the online lecture. It saves me an hour a day because I don’t have to commute daily. If I don’t understand or I am missing something, I can re-watch the recorded video. For me, using a computer online is a piece of cake because I have a strong computer background.
Everything seems good for me. But “ wait a minute”, my 5 senses are beginning to complain. I can’t taste snacks with my classmates. We usually share with each other during breaktime. I can’t smell the odor of the school restroom although it is a little bit disgusting. I can’t hear people talking to each other in our school corridor. My teacher always brings some samples in class to help us learn. I can’t watch real samples in class. Also, I can’t touch and feel the difference between each of the samples. When will our normal class resume?”
“Canadians have been isolated for over 3 months. It's frustrating and challenging for many parents. Many parents gave up their child’s online learning. For me, it was daunting. I had no clue how to help my kids with my limited language and computer skills.
Luckily, everything started changing when my English teacher told us she would be available to teach us again. My life started shining again. It has been over 10 weeks now. She meets us online every weekday. She is encouraging and caring. We learned a lot of useful things. We also have small breakout rooms to discuss and share our thoughts. Online learning has become “My Best” on weekdays. I see the familiar faces on the screen. I hear classmates’ voices and laughing. It reduces my worries because I know no matter how rough the pandemic is, we can go through it together. Online learning is not only improving my English. It gave me more opportunities to communicate with my kids as well.
I appreciate our teacher for helping us connect together, and also thank the school board for supporting Adult ESL. Because of online learning, I don’t feel alone.”
Alfred Y.
“My life has changed since March due to the pandemic. COVID-19 turned the world upside down, and I can’t deny my fear and anxiety about the spread of the virus is overwhelming. The stay home order has turned my life monotonous. Everything feels blurry. At the same time, my values and beliefs are being crushed. It’s hard to believe that hugging and shaking hands is hazardous, visiting friends can be harmful, and staying too close with other people is dangerous.
The pandemic also forced me to learn and rethink; I learned how to study and shop online, accept a different way of living, and most importantly, I reexamined the value of life. COVID-19 is a wake-up call. It helped me separate what is meaningful and what is not. Whether you are rich or poor, powerful or insignificant, you cannot be exempted. In the past, I wished I could have a bigger house, a luxury car, and be wealthier. Now I realize that no matter how big your house is, it is just a bigger prison to quarantine in. No matter how luxurious your car is, it idles in the garage like any other car. What I treasure most now are some simple things I was not aware of and had taken for granted in the past. Staying safe with my family, having coffee with my friends, walking freely outside are more meaningful to me now.
The pandemic has given the world a lesson, but the ”tuition fee” is too costly. I hope everyone in the world learns it and finds what is most valuable, and eventually use this lesson to help to build a better and safer world in the future.”
Ivy P.
“I want to thank my great ESL teacher, in the time of the pandemic. I've received tremendous help and support from her by transforming a traditional class to a virtual class. That’s amazing! I’ve enjoyed not only online learning but also have gained tons of computer and life skills. With her dedication, persistence, and encouragement, I made it and attended my first ever virtual class. I can tell my teacher spends countless hours making online materials. This resulted in an interesting and relaxing friendly learning environment. Online learning is fascinating but challenging! The beauty of it is that I can do my homework and turn it in easily online - it isn’t as complex as I thought.
I have completely changed my learning and life habits in the time of COVID-19. I spend mornings learning online and do house chores in the afternoon as well as grocery runs once a week. I don't feel isolated and depressed at all because I feel we can get through it together with my teacher and my classmates- I’m not alone!”
Alice Y.
“Covid-19 has changed my lifestyle. As the pandemic continued to spread around Canada, the government decided to shut down all the schools and public facilities, including adult ESL classes. Although this is challenging, it has also given me the opportunity to have online English classes. I didn't realize that they not only can build up my English knowledge, but it also lets me learn skills useful for life. I was afraid of learning new tech but I found out that online learning is interesting. It is a good way to save time and money for me, too.
For personal reasons, I had to return to my own country. The laws are quite different. Every returning citizen must quarantine for 14 days. During this time of isolation, I felt overwhelmed and frustrated. The online ESL class was the most anticipated moment of the day for me to get through this tough time. I am happy about having online classes even though I am so far away. I cherish this opportunity to learn. I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. We will get through this difficult time and will learn how to cope with this pandemic.”
“The ESL online course has brought me a brand new experience which I never expected. This is the first time I have studied online and I didn't know how to do it. I was worried. My ESL teacher taught us how to do it. She also conducted online tutoring in the afternoon, so that each student can gradually master online teaching skills.
Online classes are not as good as the physical class. Students like me are inclined to be lazy or sneak off but my teacher made me expect to learn something new every day. Now my English is gradually getting better. It is fascinating, but can be frustrating sometimes. I will feel disappointed if there is no class. Some people are getting crazy or lazy or bored at home. I am not to regard it as right. The interaction between my classmates and teacher is very active. I exchange the learning content with my wife and son, which is also a very pleasant thing. Sometimes when I meet my neighbors, I would also use a few slang words that I had just learnt. It makes me happy.
I thank the school board for having online classes! Thanks to such a nice teacher who can teach us conscientiously, and make me feel able to integrate into Canadian life.”
Ben
“Every morning we hear this online from our ESL teacher: “Good Morning Everyone! How are you doing?” During this Covid19 period, we have to stay home. School closed. My ESL teacher started online class and we had live classes every morning! We can see our teacher and see each other; we can hear each other and discuss interesting questions in Breakout Rooms. Trying to use Quizlet and Edpuzzle and learning new words. We learn about reading responses, observations, insights, inferences, connections, and opinions. We learn about Avatars, media bias, social media. All of our classmates are excited and joyful. Everyday our teacher spent more time preparing for online class than normal class. We all love her class very much. We are active and positive.”
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