For many of us, learning a second language is something we do for fun or to prepare for a trip abroad. But for Verenice Rivas, learning English meant being able to better adjust to her new life in the United States. After struggling in her efforts to learn the language by immersion, Verenice decided to enroll in the Intensive English Program at El Paso Community College (EPCC) in Texas.
“I knew that studying English was necessary in my life. I wanted to communicate better with my husband, his family, my new friends, and to get a better job,” says Rivas. “It was for these reasons that I invested my time and dedication to learning English,” she added.
With the guidance of Michelle Lopez, EPCC’s Language Institute lab facilities supervisor, and her coaches, Rivas embarked on her English-language journey with DynEd in February 2017. Rivas’ Placement Test score started her as a true beginner (0.0). After 27 hours of study, however, she had completed the requirements for her A1 certification and was considered a basic English learner. “After getting my A1 certificate, I was motivated to get my next certification level. I think that’s when completing DynEd’s certification program became a personal goal,” Rivas explained.
Rivas studied with DynEd every day for three years. She continued to pass all her certification-level exams. She recently completed her C2 certification—the highest of 10 levels possible.
Learning a new language is not easy, and although DynEd is designed to facilitate the language acquisition process for non-native speakers, it takes a special kind of determination to go from having no English skills to reaching Rivas' fluency level.
“The Language Institute at El Paso Community College has proudly helped many generations of students to learn English. Ms. Riva's accomplishment is proof of her dedication, hard work, and commitment. I want to wish Ms. Rivas all the best in her new endeavors,” says Lopez.
Although it was a lot of hard work, Rivas says she enjoyed learning English with DynEd. “The program has a lot of interesting topics, such as math, science, history, and environmental pollution,” she said. She also likes the fact that she could practice her reading, speaking, and listening skills with a single program.
“I am very grateful to all of my coaches at EPCC. The support I received from Mrs. Contreras, Mrs. Dominguez, Mrs. Lopez, Mrs. Ponce, Mr. Rosales, and Ms. Sarah is invaluable to me,” said Rivas.
At DynEd we never get tired of hearing success stories from around the world similar to Verenice’s and we hope that her experience inspires others with their own motivations to learn English.
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