Apart from teaching students who may not speak the same language, these classes are a teacher’s dream.

The students make for a very cooperative teaching atmosphere. They’ve made a decision to learn and that’s why they’re in class.

“The caliber of students is amazing. They’re not here to joke around. They’re here to learn,” teacher Matt Mitchell said. “They know the struggle of having a communication barrier.”

The English as a Second Language courses are offered on a semester system and hosted through the Office of Adult Education at Georgia Northwestern Technical College in cooperation with Rome-Floyd County Library’s Language and Literary Center.

While there is no college credit offered, said Susan Hackney, vice president in the Office of Adult Education at GNTC, the college is able to supply documentation of student proficiency in English for those who need it for job purposes.

If you can’t communicate your needs, even everyday transactions become exponentially more difficult.

Imagine ordering a value meal at a fast food restaurant, Mitchell explained. You know you like the number five value meal but when the menu changes you may get the fish sandwich when you really wanted a burger.

Now consider explaining that when you don’t speak the language.

“Most of these guys are embarrassed and don’t want to hold up the line,” Mitchell said.

Ordering that meal without embarrassment, and the everyday usage of English is the type of work the ESL program concentrates on.

‘Everybody has stories’

As a former Marine, Mitchell’s military service has been a talking point in the class.

One day, as he pointed out places he’d been on several multicolored maps of the world, one of his students spoke up.

The student, an older Vietnamese man named Ba Van Thai, began to speak about the countries he’d visited before coming to the U.S.

He then began to speak about his time as an officer in the American allied South Vietnamese Army — and the eight years he spent in a North Vietnamese POW camp.

Thai understands more English than he speaks and friend and interpreter Kim Pham helped to relay his story.

“Everybody has stories. I was surprised. He’s the happiest, most humble person,” Mitchell said. “He couldn’t be more polite, sweet and nice to everybody.”

Thai has lived here since 1992 and worked to provide for his family, who live in the U.S. Now after retiring he can pursue other goals, such as learning English.

He would one day like to return to Vietnam to visit relatives, but only for a visit.

“You would think that about after all they’ve been through — the strength in adversity to overcome these obstacles is amazing,” Mitchell said.

‘God is going to keep an eye on him’

As she goes to reach for her cell phone, filled with pictures of her son, tears have already started to well up.

Jesus Aceituno opens up her phone to show a picture of her son, a trim young man who is now well on his way to becoming a U.S. Marine at Parris Island training facility in South Carolina.

Her son, Jose Emanuel Gonzales, decided to enlist to help his family, she said, to pay for an education for himself and for a love of his country.

Fellow classmate Celerino Fonseca helped translate Aceituno’s story.

Before enlisting, Jose asked what she thought about him joining the military.

Her initial reaction needed no translation as she said “No, no, no, no.” But he explained that he wanted to help support the family and she recanted.

She told him she will support his decision, but with the reservations of a mother who loves her son and understands the inherent dangers involved in military service.

“My son is in God’s hands,” she said through an interpreter. “God is going to keep an eye on him.”

And she gets to practice her English by regularly asking Mitchell, a former marine, what boot camp is like and what her son is going through.

“He’s past his first week, he’ll be fine,” Mitchell reassured her.

‘Learning a word a day is a lot’

From a teacher’s perspective, the program is great, Mitchell said. Students also share their newfound knowledge with their other students, creating a collective learning experience.

“These are people you want in this country — these are good, hardworking people,” Mitchell said. “They’re coming here literally with nothing and going for it, and being extremely successful.”

The class is representative of many education levels. Some have almost no formal education while others have multiple college degrees.

Fonseca, for example, speaks very good English but can’t read it.

He didn’t have much of a formal education in Mexico but is fluent in English and Spanish.

Even as a student he lends a hand by helping interpret for those who don’t speak English while he learns how to read and write.

“I had no schooling in Mexico,” Fonseca said. “For me learning a word a day is a lot.”

He talks about his son, who has gone on to get a higher education, with no small amount of pride.

“For someone who doesn’t have any school, I have a son that goes to Georgia Tech,” Fonseca said.