| Using the Materials
The “Eating Well, Living Well” project is designed to be used primarily by ESL professionals working with food-stamp eligible adults in adult education programs in California. Nutrition experts/educators have worked closely alongside project staff in the development of “Eating Well, Living Well,” bringing content expertise, experience and advice in a working partnership. Nutrition educators working with food-stamp eligible adults may use the lessons from “Eating Well, Living Well”, after attending a Training. Click here to attend or schedule a Training, or, Contact Us for more information on using the lessons and materials.
Forming Partnerships
It is also hoped that nutrition educators will form local partnerships with ESL professionals in adult education programs, perhaps serving as guest speakers, content area specialists and in other capacities to help bring nutrition education to the targeted audience. To establish relationships and build partnerships, here are some tips for nutrition educators:
- Contact local adult schools and meet with ESL program directors to help determine needs
- Offer to provide guest speakers, co-sponsor health fairs and provide information and resources
- Provide cooking and nutrition demonstrations at adult school sites or other community venues
- Jointly sponsor community events with adult educators to provide outreach in the community, raise awareness of critical nutrition issues and support collaboration amongst agencies
- Contact Us for individual guidance and help on building partnerships
Learning from ESL
Just as ESL professionals look to nutrition educators for guidance and assistance, so too can nutrition educators gain important insight and skills by working with ESL professionals. The primary goal of nutrition education is to help students maintain or adopt eating behaviors that promote health and reduce risk of disease (Centers for Disease Control, 1999), and most often, nutrition educators work in primary language with their audience, either directly if the nutrition educator is bilingual or through the use of translators.
However, nutrition educators may also find themselves working with culturally diverse groups who represent a wide range of language and literacy abilities. While certainly it is not the job of nutrition educators to teach ‘language,’ there are a wide variety of teaching techniques and strategies that can be integrated into nutrition lessons to increase understanding and effectiveness. Many nutrition educators already use these techniques and strategies because they are simply good basic teaching strategies for any group of learners.
The following techniques and strategies can help nutrition educators communicate effectively with ESL adults, while teaching critical, and often challenging, facts and skills. Nutrition educators may also review the Guidelines for a thorough discussion of the background of the project, as well as Preview Lesson. See the section Research, Resource & Links on this web site, and see below for a list of web sites with information related to adult ESL learners.
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