A new educational resource from Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of the National Association of Home Builders, will help residential contractors improve their communications with Spanish-speaking workers.
Sed de Saber – Home Builders Edition is being developed in partnership with Retention Education LLC as an English as a Second Language (ESL) learning tool for the residential construction industry. It includes seven self-paced, interactive books that use Leap Frog Enterprise Inc. technology to teach 500 vocabulary words and more than 340 phrases commonly used in home building. The program takes about 16 weeks to complete and includes an assessment tool to gauge progress at set intervals. Each kit is reusable and can be shared among workers and their families and friends. A team of experts from the home building industry is being consulted to ensure that the material is accurate and relevant for the job site.
The program also teaches language skills to facilitate such everyday activities as parent-teacher conferences, visiting the doctor and finding addresses.
www.hbi.org
