On February 20th, we talked about Presidents and leaders and shared ideas, opinions, and suggestions for President Obama. I
drafted a letter to the President that included these comments.
Last Wednesday, I read the letter to the group. If you were not there or, even if you were there - - if you want to add something, let us know. I will email this letter to the White House next week.
Best,
Joyce
March 1, 2013
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
We
are men and women who are learning English as a Second Language and
participating in the ESL Snack & Chat Program at Tompkins County Public
Library in Ithaca, New York. We come
from many different countries – China, Korea, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina
and Cuba. We are here for various reasons – to study, visit, and some of us hope
to make permanent homes here. All of us seek to improve our ability to
communicate in English.
We
are writing this letter to express our thoughts and feelings about what it has
been like to arrive and live in the United States. We also wish to offer you
our perspectives on important issues today, as expressed below. The Librarians,
Debbie and Joyce, have compiled our comments from a recent conversation and
summarized them below. The ideas, opinions and suggestions are offered
respectfully from our group and were not endorsed by the Tompkins County Public
Library.
“We
have met many friendly people in this country.
However, we would like you to encourage all public officials to be kind
so that no one receives a poor first impression of this country as some of us
have at Immigration, Passport and the Department of Motor Vehicles.”
“There
are too many guns here! Guns scare me!”
“You
are an important President historically – one of the three most important
Presidents, including Washington and Lincoln. You are African American and have
overcome issues of racism and discrimination in a country that has a history of
slavery.”
“Please,
do whatever is possible to change energy sources to natural gas and sun to
protect against global warning. Do not wait for Congress to make decisions in this
critical time for the environment. The world is watching and the United States
should be a model. Push Congress to pass more acts to keep climate clean in
order to eliminate global warming. Leadership in this by the U.S. is important”
“There
is a big difference between the political parties on policies for Health System
and Education. Mr. President, please push your good programs.”
“Please
lift the embargo and let there be good commercial relationships between the
United States and Cuba.”
“Foreigners
like your public image.”
“Improve
teachers’ conditions! In China, we are influenced by traditions of Confucius, and
so there is respect for teachers. That is not the case in this country. We
think you should work to improve the standard of living for teachers.”
“You
are popular with Koreans. They like you! Please focus more on Koreans, as well
as taking care of poor people.”
“You
are a great President, like Franklin Roosevelt, who also faced serious economic
issues. FDR was smart in his strategies and public image. Sometimes, you appear
not as connected to the people because you are more intellectual. You like
thinking. Be more like Roosevelt.”
Mr. President, thank you very much for your
time and consideration. We appreciate your attention to our thoughts and the
opinions expressed in this letter. It has been wonderful practice learning to
express complex ideas in English. We look forward to your response and assure
you that we will discuss your letter in our conversation groups.
Most
respectfully,
Participants from ESL Snack & Chat
Program at Tompkins County Public Library
ESL Snack & Chat Program Participants
c/o Librarians Debbie Collier and Joyce Ann Wheatley
Tompkins County Public Library
101 East Green Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
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