Morganton, NC - Western Piedmont Community College students enrolled in Spanish 112 this past spring had an opportunity to participate in a Service Learning activity with students enrolled in the College’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Service Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.

Spanish students and ESL students met several times during the semester to share language and culture. The Spanish students had an opportunity to practice their language skills with the native speakers of Spanish, and the ESL students had a chance to practice their classroom learning with the native speakers of English. In addition, students shared cultures, such as holidays, tradition, and foods of their native countries. The most important lesson for all was the realization of how hard it is to learn a language. “It was very empowering for the ESL students to see that the college students had as much trouble learning Spanish as they had learning English!” said Toon Phapphayboun, WPCC Spanish instructor.