The office of Bilingual Education, located in room M224 at the Downtown Milwaukee campus, serves all students whose primary language is not English, or English Language Learners and Limited English Proficiency students. They offer many different support services for each of these students to make their school life a lot easier for them.
This office is important because it helps the students that can’t really speak English. Students that need help with testing or scheduling but can’t understand what an adviser is talking about would come here. Students can come to the office and feel comfortable knowing they will get help even if they speak a different language. From Spanish to Hmong, someone will be able to help them with whatever they need. The office area is also a quiet area to study. Students can go there and quietly work on their studies and at the same time, ask questions about the work if they need it.
In fall of 1988, the first bilingual help for Hispanic adults at MATC started. In 1990 the office was established to primarily work with ELL students including Spanish-speaking and South Asian students. Currently the office helps students obtain a certificate, diploma or an associate degree.
This office serves over 3,000 ELL students and other minority students that come from all cultures, faiths and nationalities.
The service languages are Spanish and Hmong, but they embrace students from all over because they understand their needs and feelings of being a new immigrant to this country.
Students who are in the English as a Second Language program, or are in a different program trying hard to understand what is going on, come here. They get a better understanding talking to the people in the office; they feel more at ease and know what is going on. Students also may be referred to other services outside of MATC that may help them.
The office of Bilingual Education also offers new bilingual initiatives to provide more job training opportunities to ELL students, such as welding or cosmetology.