ESL Conversation Friends
For more than a decade, St. Brendan’s has put Christ's love into action by reaching out to help immigrants and citizens for whom English is not their native language.
We provide a friendly, compassionate setting where our new friends can comfortably practice their speaking and listening skills with guidance from our volunteer instructors and without fear of embarrassment. For many of our students, indeed, our classes offer the only opportunity for them to practice speaking and understanding English on a regular basis.
In recent years, we have welcomed students from Japan, South Korea, China, Haiti, Brazil, India, Belarus, Russia, Syria, Turkey, Mexico and Ukraine.
Some of our volunteer instructors are members of St. Brendan’s, but others belong to nearby faith communities or have found us online.
Our program is affiliated with Literacy Pittsburgh, which offers our students additional resources while also periodically assessing their progress.
We offer classes at two levels (one for those with basic English skills and one for more fluent speakers) and all meetings are conducted on Zoom.
For more information, please contact St. Brendan's.
Tuesdays: 10:00 am -11:30 am
Wednesdays: 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Thursdays: 10:00 am – 11:30 am
"My house was near St. Brendan Church for a long time. I noticed they had ESL classes when they started. But I did not contact them even though I needed to study English. I worried that they would not qualify me as a student because I was not a church member. I did not want them to push me to become a church member. One day my friend invited me to this ESL class. I realized my misunderstanding. The tutors are very nice, kind and intelligent. Their skill is very effective and they never pressure my beliefs. Do not hesitate to come to ESL Conversation Friends at St. Brendan Church if you want to improve your English.
-(student)
I never realized how much immigrants needed help with our language and customs until I started working with them. We always have fun and laugh together about common situations that we experience as well as learning so much about other cultures. In a way, it is like traveling to different countries without leaving Pittsburgh. Our students have become our friends and they are so appreciative of everything that our parish volunteers do with them.
-Joyce D. (volunteer)