Learning from each other

Moving to another country brings about so many changes to a family’s life — it often feels like they have to start living all over again, Ana Xavier said.

“It’s like you’re born again,” Xavier said.

In July 2017, Xavier, with her husband Daniel and their three children, Elisa, Rafael and Tiago, moved from Brazil to Vestavia Hills so Xavier could do her postdoctoral work at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

The Xaviers, with little knowledge of the English language, moved to Cahaba Heights to send all three children to Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights. The first day wasn’t easy for Xavier.

“When you move from another country, you just worry about your kids,” Xavier said. “... The first day of school, I just said, ‘Go there and have fun,’ but then I turned around and cried.”

In the last year, the family has grown in their grasp of the English language, with the two oldest children “graduating” from the English-learning classes offered by the school.

While there’s always a new word to learn, Rafael said the teachers helped him every step of the way. Xavier praised the work of school staff in helping her children learn English.

“... It’s not just teaching … They really are concerned about human beings,” Xavier said.

'A RICH PIECE OF DIVERSITY'

With more than 50 languages spoken in the homes of students in Vestavia City Schools, the school does all it can to help teach English to non-English speaking students and to help their families, including employing four English-learning teachers spread across the school system.

“[The teachers] work with those students … one-on-one, multiple times a week, they’re going into their classrooms working with them there; they work with their teachers to support them,” said Brooke Brown, director of curriculum for Vestavia Hills City Schools. “At [first], it’s really trying to build up their vocabulary and … social language.”

English-language classes are offered to qualifying students as they come into the system, and once they test out, they’re monitored and supported as needed.

The school system also offers translation services for parent-teacher conferences, as well as the ability to translate the school’s website into other languages to help those parents who do not speak English.

“It’s important for us to be able to have resources to provide things for parents in multiple languages,” said Whit McGee, the school system’s director of communications.

Brown said English-speaking students have much to learn from their peers from other parts of the world.

“My fourth grader has two students in his class, they both speak Chinese,” Brown said. “ … He feels like he has a job in helping one of the young kids be a part of their classroom community and help him in learning.”

SOUTHERN DIALECT MEETS MANDARIN CHINESE 

The school system also sees and helps a number of parents who adopt children from other countries. One of those families is the Baileys, who adopted two girls from China in the past seven years.

Gracie Bailey was adopted in 2012, one month shy of turning three years old, while LeeAnn was adopted in September 2017, Jenny Bailey said. Gracie spoke nothing but her ancient Shanghai dialect, but Bailey said she picked up language quickly.

While Bailey wasn’t sure if Gracie needed English-learning classes, teachers picked up on a few things and had her tested when she started kindergarten. She started classes that year.

LeeAnn, who’s now in eighth grade, had studied some English in China; however, she learned British English, not American English. Bailey said LeeAnn has also picked up on American English quickly, thanks to the help of her teacher at Liberty Park Middle School, Maggie Edmonds.

“She was really good in that she recognized the importance of LeeAnn bonding with us and becoming part of the family, and treated ESL at school as a way to help her adjust, transition and the first six months, focus her ESL work on communicating with her family and friends,” Bailey said. “She felt if she could communicate with her peers, then she was going to learn English a whole lot faster.”

The teachers at LPMS have been a tremendous help to the family, Bailey said.

“It wasn’t about just doing what was required by the program, but what was good for her as an individual and what was good for her personal growth, with all the changes she was experiencing,” Bailey said.

After adopting the girls, Bailey said it took some adjustment for her and the rest of the family to be able to communicate with them.

“Southern dialect and Mandarin don’t work too well together,” Bailey said.

The hardest part of adapting was finding a way to have meaningful conversations with her daughters, a difficult task when trying to bridge the language gap.

“It’s hard to really have meaningful bonding conversations when your language is limited,” Bailey said. “ … I feel like we’re at the point now where we can start developing another layer of attachment and bonding.”

Both Gracie and LeeAnn have picked up the language quickly due to the help offered by the school system. For LeeAnn especially, the teachers have gone “above and beyond” what they had to do, Bailey said.

LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE

After Xavier finishes her work at UAB, she said she’s not sure if the family will go back to Brazil or if they will stay in America, though her daughter knows what she wants.

“I want to stay,” Elisa said. “I like the school system better here. You learn more things than you do in Brazil, but it’s also kind of hard because you miss your family and you can’t visit once a month like we did in Brazil. There’s a good and a bad side.”

Xavier said it’s hard being so far away from home and they haven’t been able to visit since they moved to the U.S.

“Human beings, we adapt, right?” Xavier said. “These tiny things like food, weather, we can get used to, but family and friends, that’s the difficult part, for sure.”

Reflecting on their first year in the U.S., Xavier said her children were her heroes.

“They never gave up,” Xavier said. “... They were doing such a good job and were so brave. They made us stronger.”

After a year spent learning English, the Xavier children now spend some of their time teaching their parents, which is especially helpful for Daniel, who came here not knowing any English.

“Sometimes, we study together,” Xavier said.

“Sometimes?” Daniel said with a grin. “Everyday.”