Funhouse is bringing community together one word at a time

||| FROM EMILIE GINCIG for FUNHOUSE COMMONS |||

On Tuesday evenings community members come together to learn a new language in a fantastic collaboration between the YMCA and The Funhouse. 

Classes, which are held at The Funhouse, are divided into four offerings; Intro to English, Intro to Spanish, Level 2 English, and Level 2 Spanish. Instructors Trillium Swanson, Haley Cruz Winchell, Doug Bruce, Doreen Parsley and Joanna Rubi Aldort fill each class session with fun learning activities while building community and bridging the cultural gap that all too often comes with language barriers.

English and Spanish classes are held at the same time in different rooms throughout The Funhouse. Participants engage in interactive, informal lessons to learn and practice their target language.

“Each night we carve out about 20-30 minutes where people learning English and people learning Spanish talk with one another as pairs or in small groups. This gives everyone an opportunity to practice their target language with native speakers,” said Trillium Swanson, Prevention Services Manager for The Funhouse. 

“I love this language class because it brings together people from all over the island, who are all motivated by a desire to connect better with others who speak a different language than them! Our motto is “be brave” or “ser valiente”, because it takes a lot of courage to learn a new language in adulthood. It’s our hope that friendships form between learners through these 10 weeks of classes, so that bridges in our community grow even after the fall session of language class ends.” 

Haley Cruz Winchell, Senior Program Director of Education and Family Programs for the YMCA added, “Last night, during the 30 minute partnering session, I saw people exchanging contact information so they can practice MORE outside of class. This right here is community building and it’s wonderful to be a part of. We’ve been doing language classes since 2017 in an effort to bring different groups of people together, make friends, and learn a new skill. 

We’ll do another session starting mid-January.”

For more information contact hcruzwinchell@seattleymca.org