Imagine walking into a world where the language was foreign, there was nowhere to call home and unemployment was the way of life.

In conjunction with Boston-based Rosie’s Place, a program dedicated to improving conditions for homeless women, Northeastern University has been offering English as a Second Language classes twice a week to approximately 25 poor and homeless women. The program is designed to eliminate the language barrier and make transition a little easier.

Now, in order for classes to continue in the fall, there needs to be willing instructors and funding for the course. There is already a waiting list of over 15 women for a potential 2003-2004 program.

“In order to continue the program, we will need to have about eight NU student interns and volunteers each semester,” said Professor William Holton, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and E.S.L. teacher, said. “Dean James Stellar of the College of Arts and Sciences is trying to find an alumnus to fund a co-op position to have a coordinator and teacher on-site at Rosie’s Place.”

Holton said the classes are free because Rosie’s Place doesn’t charge for any of its services to its guests. For these courses, registration comes on a first-come, first-serve basis. The program can only accommodate 20 to 25 students per term.

“The classes were set up after two teams of NU students did feasibility and needs studies as service-learning projects, and another team recruited women at Rosie’s Place and planned the opening term of classes,” Holton said.

In the Winter of 2002, Holton contacted Rosie’s Place as part of his project for the first Faculty Learning Community on Practice-Oriented Education, a release said. In a meeting with staff members from Rosie’s Place, Director of the Advocacy Program, had wanted to start E.S.L. classes to meet the growing need she saw for immigrant women served by Rosie’s Place.

In the course, women are divided into small groups according to the level of their English-speaking skills. During the fall, winter and spring quarters of 2002-2003, anywhere from six to eight NU students helped teach the course, which does not give tests or grades, to the women ranging from 20 to 80 years old.

Once a woman begins the course, she can stay as long as she wants, Holton said.

In the courses, there are books and a general lesson plan, and any NU student can help with the course after an orientation session and guidance from a previous teacher.

Currently, Holton teaches the summer courses now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and says there will a type of “graduation” for those who complete the course on August 7.