Volunteer tutors to teach adults to read, write, speak and understand English are needed in Lehigh Acres. Tess Murphy, executive director of Literacy Volunteers of Lee County, says 47 adults in Lehigh Acres are waiting for tutors.

Adults (age 18 and over) who are willing to commit a minimum of one hour tutoring time per week are encouraged to attend upcoming ESL tutor training in Lehigh Acres, on May 15, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at LVLC’s Lehigh Acres office at 9 Beth Stacey Blvd. in Lehigh. The training is free; $30 is requested to cover the cost of the materials.

About 90 percent of LVLC students are speakers of other languages and require ESL (English as a second language) tutoring, Murphy said. The remaining students are English speakers who want to learn to read and require basic reading and writing tutoring.

“The inability to read or speak English impacts the entire community and economy in such areas as safety, efficiency, and social interaction, Murphy said.

It’s not necessary to speak the student’s language to teach them English. All the students are adults over the age of 18 and are matched with a tutor living in the same area of Lee County. All matches meet in public places.

LVLC is an affiliate of ProLiteracy America, a member of the Florida Literacy Coalition and a United Way partner agency. LVLC provides case management for all matches. To learn more or to register for the training in Lehigh Acres, contact LVLC at (239) 368-1002 or lvlcread@earthlink.net.