Bethany Jensen holds up a photo and asks the class to identify the object shown.

“A ball,” responds one of the students.

“Yes! Very good!” Bethany says. “But what kind of ball?”

Mutterings from the class. No clear response.

Bethany: “It’s a football!”

The mutterings turn to expressions of surprise — and of confusion.

“It’s an American football. And in American football, you use your hands!”

Now the sounds of confusion are of exasperation.

“If you use your hands, why is it called ‘football’?” exclaims one of the students.

“I know, I know,” Bethany says with a smile. “American language can be crazy sometimes.”

Welcome to an ESL (English as a Second Language) class at Southgate, Avesta Housing’s affordable housing community in Scarborough, Maine. For two hours once a week, four to six adults — most of whom are Southgate residents — gather in the community room to learn. Not just how to speak better English, but to learn about American culture.

The class is administered by Scarborough Adult Education in partnership with Avesta, which offers a similar class at West End through South Portland Adult Education. Both properties have high populations of recent immigrants for whom English is a second, or even third, language. Classes are divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced based on standardized tests that measure their proficiency.

“I love being able to help acclimate them and to show them that Americans can be kind, welcoming, and interested in them as people — what they have to offer and what they have to say,” said Bethany, a speech language pathologist for the RSU 5 school district. “These are just regular folks who are trying to better themselves and their lives. I enjoy them. And I learn from them, too.”

The Southgate class is comprised of people of different national origins, familial status, and cultures. Faustin is from Rwanda and has lived in Scarborough for two years. Sarah, a native of Guatemala, lives with her aunt; she has only been here for a couple of months. Yvonne is from the Democratic Republic of Congo and is a Southgate resident with five children — who, because they have been exposed to English on a regular basis at school, speak it better than she does. That’s something she wants to rectify.

For many students such as Yvonne, having ESL classes onsite at an Avesta property means they can attend on a regular basis.

“A lot of new Mainers don’t have transportation, so being able to have these language classes in their home is such a blessing for them,” Bethany said.

The goal is to advance to a higher-level ESL course and, ultimately, become proficient enough so that they no longer need classes. It’s the key for them to improve the lives of themselves and their families. To achieve the American dream.

“It’s not just something that you see in a movie,” Bethany said. “People come here, and they can be what they want to be.”