For English teachers, teaching students the conditional tense – that is, how to express a hypothetical situation – can be a challenge. Puente’s staff members are grappling with their own hypothetical situation: “If immigration reform passes, how can we be ready for a lot of new English students?” The most powerful Congressional backers of an immigration reform bill have made it clear that anyone who might apply for a provisional residency permit, let alone a green card, would have to demonstrate a certain level of English language proficiency under the law. But the level of proficiency required – whether an applicant would need to read, write and speak well enough to pass a test, or simply be enrolled in English classes – is still a matter of debate at the Congressional level. Either way, Puente’s English Language programs – the only source of ESL classes anywhere between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz – would see a surge of interest.  “All of these people are going to realize, ‘Oh my god, I need English to get on my pathway to citizenship.’ It’s a completely different motivation to learn English,” says Kassi Talbot, Puente’s Learning Center Associate in charge of the ESL program. Attendance at Puente’s Level 1 and Level 2 English classes already has grown since instructors shifted their teaching … Continue reading Expanding Puente’s English Language learning programs