Alcida came to the U.S. from El Salvador with a goal to build a career in health care.
She set her sights on becoming a medical interpreter, a critical role that improves access to medical care and health outcomes for the one in five people in the U.S. who speak a language other than English at home. The field is projected to grow 20% through 2031, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“I believe that healthy individuals, families, and societies are built by a combination of personal and community commitments,” Alcida said. “I want to be part of health education, prevention, and preservation.”
Alcida’s Spanish skills are in high demand in health care; to meet her goal, she needed to improve her English skills. She enrolled in Chesterfield Public Schools’ Adult Continuing Education program and began to take English as a second language (ESL) classes through an innovative program that offers in-person, virtual learning, and distance learning classes to working adult students.
“I had two goals. The first one was to continue improving my listening, reading and writing in English, and the second one was to be able to take the test to become a National Certified Medical Interpreter,” Alcida recalls.
Alcida’s ambitions and efforts were buoyed by a network of partner organizations.
Chesterfield Public Schools was able to supplement its online ESL instruction with a grant from our Mobile Learning Fund. Via the fund and a partnership between ProLiteracy and EnGen, which provides digital workforce-aligned English instruction, programs can equip learners with English and career skills simultaneously.
“The Mobile Learning Fund provided a way to extend student access. Our continued student growth in digital literacy and workplace readiness is a reflection of this valuable partnership,” said Melinda Dart, adult ESL support specialist at Chesterfield County Public Schools.
The combination of mobile learning and career-focused English instruction was a game-changer for Alcida.
“EnGen helped me to learn medical terminology and practice pronunciation to improve my interpretation skills, moving from source language to target language and vice versa,” said Alcida. “I love EnGen because I can study on my smartphone anywhere, at my speed and during my free time.”
Like Chesterfield Public Schools, adult education programs across the country are tapping support from ProLiteracy and mobile learning solutions like EnGen to better serve adult English learners, a fast-growing demographic that drives 40-plus percent of enrollments in the adult education system.
Solutions like EnGen seamlessly supplement existing ESL curricula. The platform offers students on-demand access to a catalog of more than 170 courses tailored to in-demand fields like health care, manufacturing, hospitality, and skilled trades, all delivered on a mobile device.
In the fall of 2024, Alcida passed the Core Certification Healthcare Interpreter test (Core CHI), achieving a huge milestone in her journey towards becoming a certified interpreter. She is now utilizing EnGen to polish her resume and prepare for interviews.
“Everything that I need to learn at this point of my life, the EnGen platform has it,” Alcida says.
Alcida encourages other adult English learners to power their goals with online learning.
“I would recommend to any person who desires to learn English: Register for online classes and start your journey. We need to invest in ourselves and be able to communicate with others, develop technical skills, and have better job opportunities.”