AELP: Accelerated English Language Program: Friendships Found in English

A,E,L,P: four little letters with great big impact on the students and staff involved in making those letters stand for "Accelerated English Language Program." We're here to facilitate children from around the world cultivate linguistic tools that enable them to express their needs, ideas, thoughts, and opinions all in English. As we create a safe environment that allows the children to take the risks necessary to establish those skills, we also bare witness to the forming of cross-cultural bonds found through the use of a common language not their own.

As Kate says, "Today in class, I noticed Jimena and Ellie asking each other for and exchanging pieces of gum completely through gestures. Later, I saw them both giggling quietly at some inside joke. As a teacher at a true immersion program like the AELP, this is the stuff I dream about! You know that a relationship that intimate, where you can share humor or understand each other through a few key words and gestures, is built on heaps of communication. It made me think of all the time that Jimena and Ellie (and every other student) are spending talking with each other and developing their friendships.

Jimena and Ellie

For Jimena and Ellie, I'm excited for what this means for them as students continuing at New Hampton in the fall, that they might already have a friend to help get them through their next year at school. Beyond that, though, I'm excited about the big picture: the possibility of a girl from Mexico City and a girl from Moscow becoming friends, sharing their traditions, experiences and values and deepening their understanding of the world as a result."

We're excited and honored to see the friendships forming here at AELP. Seeing the kids laugh as they painted each other's faces in practice for the carnival festivities tomorrow, hearing them sing for Rudolf who celebrated his birthday away from his home in Russia today, and joining with them to marvel at the fireworks in the sky in Sandwich, NH reminded us all that challenging ourselves to reach out in another language offers big rewards.