Learning English and Getting Dream Jobs with Bananagrams
By Ingrid Chan, Employment Case Manager
On a recent rainy morning at the Rainier Beach Library, you might have stumbled upon two groups of adults in a glass-walled room, staring down intently at their desks. It’s clear they’re trying to figure something out. Once in a while, someone in one group will shout something out, and immediately, the other members would count on their fingers.
Though their children were standing outside of the room, waiting, they refused to leave whatever it is they’re working on behind. You might find this scene perplexing and curiously, take a closer look at what what’s laid out in front of them—and see that they’re playing the spelling game, Bananagrams.
These folks are not a random board game group camping out at the library, but students in ACRS’ Ready to Work English language and employment program. Although they come to the program from different countries and for different reasons; speak different languages and bring their own cultures, they all share a common goal: improve their English and get their dream jobs one day. This is what Ready to Work is all about. We support every client in achieving success in learning English and making progress in their career pathways.
Building vocabulary is a vital, yet, painful process in learning another language. In order to help her students remember the words they have learned, the class instructor, Natalia Zarazo, uses Bananagrams tiles to change an otherwise boring memorization activity into an interesting and competitive game.
Starting with one letter, students have to think of a word with one more letter than the previous one; the student that gets the most words wins. One student spelled “kindergarten.” She remembered the word by heart not because she randomly saw it in a book, but because her dream job is to be a kindergarten teacher. One managed to play the word “university,” because one day, she would like to get a special education degree in the United States, so she can continue the profession she had in her home country.
On this particular day, the students made it to a 12-letter word. How would you stack up?
