English Cafe’s popularity results in added classes

Ramiro Sandoval, 50, of Cape Coral listens while Edna Dachs, a volunteer at the Lakes Regional Library English Cafe, explains the concept of Halloween.

Anatoli Shpilevoi, 59, moved to the United States four months ago, but unless he attempts to speak English you wouldn’t know he is from Moldova in Eastern Europe.

He takes his time, speaking slowly and often conjugates English verb tenses aloud while trying to get his point across in conversations.

Shpilevoi is just one of a group of students who attends weekly sessions of the English Cafe at Lakes Regional Library in south Fort Myers.

“I speak very bad (English) but I will try better,” said Shpilevoi, who moved to south Fort Myers because his daughter lives in Naples. “I think learning English is hard but I just need more time.”

The library began offering the weekly Monday night sessions in August after discovering that students just needed a comfortable place to practice.

“People know they need to improve their skills so they can live here and gets jobs or just get along in the stores,” said Barb Coons, the Literacy coordinator for the Lee County Library System.

She runs all of the English Cafe programs and has seen its popularity rise.

“We aim to make people comfortable with using English they know and using it with people they see,” said Coons, about the program that has grown to include an additional three sessions at other libraries. “They can talk in small groups if they want also.”

Topics of conversations are usually based on what is on everyone’s mind or topics pulled from an envelope.

“Today, we took out a card and the topic was holidays,” said Janice Miller, the cafe’s teacher, adding that current events often infiltrate the conversations. “But we talk about anything really.”

Volunteer and English speaking native Edna Dachs said she has learned a lot about other cultures.

Students at the sessions have come from Mexico, Turkey, Croatia, Switzerland and Lithuania.

“It’s a light hearted environment and it hits home because everyone speaks English and don’t lapse back into their native language,” said Dachs, who explained the concept of Halloween to Shpilevoi, who had never heard of it. “We get a good cross section of people and it’s fun.”