Voices of Project Literacy - Watertown Free Public Library

When I arrived in the United States, I waspleasantly surprised that even absolutelyunknown to me people greeted me whenI met them, and very often my neighborswelcomed me, saying “how do you do?” andI doubted how to answer correctly.Only when I started studying English our teacher, Neela, explained to us that “How doyou do?” is not a question, but is the form of a greeting and doesn’t require any otheranswer apart from the same phrase, “how do you do?” And if you meet a person fromtime to time you say “how are you?” The answer should be brief. It would be very comicalto give a long reply. These pieces of advice were very useful for me and I follow them.– Tatiana Tripolski, Student (Beginner 3 Evening Class)Over the years, I have tutored women from Armenia, Korea, India, and Thailand. Onewoman wanted to improve her English so she could teach piano. One mother wanted tobe able to talk to her son’s teacher. One woman who works in a Thai restaurant choppingvegetables would like to be able to wait on customers. Another student wants to study forher US citizenship test.Many immigrants have come here in search of a better life. They earn money to send tofamily back home. Some are here with their husbands who are on a fellowship.I may have taught these women a little English, but they have taught me how to makepad thai, how to be hospitable to guests in your home, and that family means everything.Through my literacy tutoring, I realized that the world is a very small place and that weare not that different from mothers in other countries.– Sheila Doctoroff, Tutor33