What I have learned from Ramona so far

In the public library's literacy program,  I work with a Latina I will call Ramona, because that is not her name. I'm trying to help her prepare for the citizenship test.

Ramona has lived here more than ten years without learning English. The test will be in English.

Ramona had a sixth grade education in Jalisco. She has a sister who is a computer programmer. The sister attended the University of Mexico, which is free, unlike our public universities. 

Ramona is intelligent but untutored. When I met her, she thought maybe France was a city. She did not know what a colony was, what Britain is, what a civil war was, etc.  When I asked her what is the law of the land, she would say, correctly, "The Constitution." She had memorized that, but she didn't know that the Constitution is a document or how it had been created or for what purpose.  

Ramona's family in Jalisco baked bread and sold it on the street. 

Where Ramona grew up, a burrito is a tortilla wrapped around some sprinkled salt. 

Ramona has two small children, one of whom wants to become a veterinarian. His name is Tom. She is determined that her two sons go to a university, and she and her husband, who runs a small gardening business, are saving money for college

For the last ten years, Ramona has lived about 30 miles from the ocean. She has not been there. She told me that her husband told her that the coast is unpleasantly cold. 

Ramona has said that she works as a cleaner, the first time I had heard that term. 

Ramona is dignified, charming, natural, expressive and very polite.