Readin, Writin and 'Rithmatic

As I started to title this blog post "literacy", the old song chorus came to mind that my mom would sing to us as she woke us up the first day of school.  Take a listen and see why we didn't appreciate her efforts.

if the video isn''t showing up above, you can click this link  https://youtu.be/1Bd84CzRuxY 

OK now that is out of the way, this blog post is not about that. 

I want to talk about adult literacy; those who want to learn how to read and write as an adult.  Some adult learners can already read in one language but they are learning to read a new language.  

Shevawn and I both volunteer in our local library where we utilize a computer program which teaches adults English literacy skills.  We love how motivated our students are and we also love the connection between what we do as community volunteers and the Wycliffe work that we do.

How is this related to what Wycliffe does overseas you may ask.  We are both dealing with adults who are motivated to learn how to read and write either in their mother tongue or possibly in the national language.  Many of our library students already know how to read in another language, they are now learning English.  On the other hand on the field, adults might first learn how to read in their mother tongue language which the Bible is being translated into and later after gaining some confidence branch out into learning to read in a language of wider communication (which opens up a whole world of information on such topics as health, business, politics, news and more.  Imagine being able to read your countries constitution for the first time!)  

Below is an inspirational video from Senegal highlighting a young lady who struggled in school until she later learned to read in her mother tongue as an adult.   

if the video doesn't show up in your email, please click here to watch this short video https://youtu.be/9bemWqhmImk