"When I was a child," a friend of mine recently told me, "I didn't know there was any kind of bank but a place where money was kept.  When I read the term 'river bank' in a story, I was totally puzzled."

            Another friend said, "I could never understand the term 'home plate'.  I wondered why the plate was on the ground rather than in the kitchen."

            Among my own early experiences, I remember that all the students in my small school (a two story brick structure that included a subterranean floor) used the words "basement" and "bathroom" interchangeably because the students' bathroom was located in the basement.  When the need arose, a student asked, "May I go to the basement?" and we all understood that he or she was asking permission to go to the bathroom.  Because English was my second language, I never considered another meaning for the word "basement".

            We also hung our coats and sweaters in the "cloak room"-and none of us knew what a cloak was.  It wasn't until I saw a picture of a vampire that I understood the meaning of that particular kind of wrap.

            There are many other examples of the confusion that can result from a less-than-complete understanding of the English language.  It is not enough for children whose home language is not English to "learn" English.  They need to read a wide range of material before they can fully understand the multiple meanings of words in the English language.

            Hearing and reading the way words are used together helps increase vocabulary.  These experiences also give students an 'ear' for proper usage.

            A situation unique to children whose parents speak a foreign language at home to the exclusion of English is that the models of the new language, English, must come from outside the home.

            This is not entirely bad.  If the models are teachers who speak standard English, the students will benefit.  I know this from personal experience.  I learned Spanish at home and spoke mostly Spanish there; I learned English from my brothers and sisters who preceded me at school and brought the teachers' English home with them.  Later, I listened carefully to my own teachers' English and felt secure that I was learning it properly.

            Then the reading began.  I continued seeing new words and learning how they fit into sentences and how the sentences fit together to form paragraphs.  Instinctively, I learned about beginnings, middles, and endings in paragraphs.  In those days, no one ever asked the ubiquitous question now asked in schools all over America: "What is the main idea?"  When you are exposed to words in all forms and fashions, that question and similar questions seem almost too easy.

            Children whose second language is English need guidance from those who understand their language needs.  Teachers, in particular, knowing the most common mistakes made by students learning English as a second language (ESL), need to stress repeatedly the correct use of certain words and phrases.  Exposure to stories, poems, and literature reinforces those teachings.

            When a student making the transfer from a foreign language to English has to read or do assignments or take the standardized tests given in school, success is possible only if the words are fully understood.  That student will be even more successful as a strong understanding of the multiple meanings of words in the English language take root.  This understanding is vital to the development of good communication skills-spoken or written-as it is in all social, academic or business settings.

            It is not enough that ESL students learn English; they must hear it being used properly, study it extensively, and read it frequently.