Pedro Carrasco survived in Minnesota for years without studying English. But when the cook earned more responsibility at work, he enrolled at IEC.

“Pedro's accelerated ability to collaborate has transformed an already excellent staff member into a virtually indispensible one,” said Joseph Henkin, Senior Manager at Loring Pasta Bar. “His enhanced fluency in the English language is a testament to both his aptitude as a student and the structure of the program in which he is engaged.”

Carrasco, a Mexican immigrant, was recognized handling sensitive customer situations well. His English as well as his knowledge of American cultural expectations and non-verbal cues – learned at IEC – were key, he said.

“I definitely feel like I’ve got more opportunity now for my future. I’m very thankful for my classes here.”

Haitham Abdullah fled Iraq in 2006 after a death threat. “I was lucky – many of my friends never got warnings.”

But the software engineer knew his intermediate English wasn’t enough in Minnesota.

“Your English needs to be excellent here. Without it, you can’t express yourself and you can’t give an employer an idea of your skills. You can’t give anyone confidence in you.”

That changed fast for Haitham, 36. While attending Lincoln, he connected socially – and professionally. He was hired by global engineering giant Siemens AG in Minnetonka in 2008. 

“Learning English was the therapy that helped me survive. The teachers here have a really amazing, magical way of dealing with us . . . they gave me the confidence I needed.”

Claudia Linares has worked hard since emigrating from El Salvador, becoming a supervisor at Qwest while raising two daughters with her husband. But the 29-year-old knows success requires ongoing effort.

“I came to Lincoln because I needed to communicate better. My boss is American and I want to speak to her in English. I also needed to help my daughters more in school.” The girls’ father, who works two jobs, speaks very limited English.

After attending morning classes with perfect attendance, Claudia’s English dramatically improved. “I put a lot of attention into my class. And it’s helped me speak English where before I would just speak Spanish.” Claudia said she’s also helping her girls more with homework.

Tenzin Zegyal, 23, grew up in Nepal without running water or electricity. Sometimes the Tibetan refugee didn’t even have enough to eat, despite his parents’ hard work as carpet makers. Today he attends Lincoln’s Health Care English course – while juggling work at both Hennepin County Medical Center and UPS.

“My plan is to learn everything I can here and then take the test for nursing school.”
Tenzin turned to Lincoln after he failed the language portion of an entrance exam at a community college. But he’s not giving up anytime soon.  

“My Mom always told me that when you get to America, you can do anything you want as long as you have good English. I believe her.” 

Daniela Przybyszewska plans to graduate from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism with her bachelor’s degree in 2010. The Bulgarian immigrant says Lincoln made it possible.

“I knew words but I wasn’t able to make sentences,” said Daniela, whose Polish husband is a scientist recruited by Medtronic. “At parties with my husband, I wouldn’t even talk. It’s very frustrating when you can’t talk – you feel stupid, and you have to hold back who you are.”

Daniela, 32, first tried another language program. Unhappy, she tried IEC on a friend’s recommendation.

“It was refreshing – Lincoln was very serious. The other school was not. When I finally took the college test, I scored very high in grammar. I was very, very excited!”

Guillermo Pinto serves dozens of Latin American clients from his Edina home office. But Chilean-born and graduate school-educated Guillermo, 50, wanted more U.S. clients. So he turned to IEC.

“I’m a good business operator. My problem is English,” said Guillermo, who came to the Twin Cities with his wife, a Mexican consul who speaks seven languages herself.

Guillermo and his business partner in Mexico City have 19 employees. In late 2008, Guillermo secured a project with electronics leader Best Buy. Improving his English with his morning class, Guillermo’s confident he’ll land more big projects in Minnesota.

“There are so many opportunities here,” he said.

In five months, Faycal Ahmed went from not understanding a bus driver’s simple question to reading Booker T. Washington and other literature in the highest-level English course at IEC. “Five months ago you could ask me a question and I would be like ‘huh?’ This school changed everything for me.”

A native of Djibouti who speaks French, Arabic, Oromo, Somali and Amarhic, Faycal was a security agent with the Port of Djibouti. The 30-year-old, who has applied for a work permit, is investigating health care and science career paths.

“My friends ask me ‘why are you speaking so well?’ I tell them Lincoln did that. I tell them to come here. This school has a good reputation.”