Local ESL Teacher Faced Hardships, Became Inspiration For Students

When Irma Maciel moved from Mexico to the United States 13 years ago, she didn’t speak a word of English.

Although she found it hard not being able to communicate with many others, she tried to make it work.

One day, she went to have her phone card fixed at a local store. Because of the language barrier, the employee became frustrated and screamed at her.

Maciel was left wondering what the man had said in the language she could not understand and went home with a broken phone card and shattered hopes of surviving in her new home.

But she quickly put the pieces back together.

“I promised myself that nobody else was going to scream at me,” Maciel said. “Those kinds of things made me stronger. I wanted to learn.”

Soon after the incident, Maciel began learning English with School on Wheels. Ten years ago she was hired to teach Spanish at the Holy Trinity School in Westmont. After five years, she began teaching in Darien and later started her current job as the English as a second language teacher at , a position she has held for two years.

Three weeks ago she won the annual ESL Student Success Award from School on Wheels, where she first learned to speak English.

“We were thrilled that we were able to help,” said Debbie Bradt, program director of School on Wheels. “She’s a great woman.”

Maciel was born in Mexico City and moved to the U.S. with her husband. A mother of two sons, she said she continued to teach even though she holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science, because it gave her time to raise her children. 

When it comes to teaching, Maciel said she tries to motivate her students and their parents to continue speaking their native languages. To her, speaking English while continuing to speak the native language should not be a burden but a goal for her students.

“I am always telling my students, ‘Be bilingual, be bilingual,’” she said. “It is giving you an advantage and it will also make a difference in your life." 

As an ESL teacher, she encounters plenty of families who struggle to communicate and kids who find it hard to assimilate because of the language barrier. Maciel said she tries to motivate them to continue learning because it will lead to success, despite the hardships.

“I am happy,” Maciel said. “I know that nothing is easy, not just in this country but if people are working hard and enjoying the things that they are doing, they are going to be successful. I’ve really liked that.”

Although she had to endure many uncomfortable and frustrating times when she spoke little English, she said she has moved past that. She still faces some problems with the language (“The ‘w’ is not my friend,” she said.) but can now express her thoughts and communicate well.

A year after the incident with the phone card, she returned to the store.

The employee didn’t remember Maciel, but she remembered him. She thanked him and explained to him that what he said that day made her realize she had to learn the language of her new country.

The stunned employee apologized before giving Maciel a 10 percent discount on everything in the store for the rest of her life.

Maciel said she enjoyed such success and has found a happy life in Darien, but also wanted to make sure the children currently learning English will be successful as well. 

“The most important thing is that for all the kids coming here, if I can do it, they can do it,” she said. “It is hard but if they try, they will do it.”