For many immigrants to the United States, one of the biggest barriers to overcome is language. In the Albany International Center’s Newcomer program, students from around the world learn English.

“I do need to learn English to speak to other people in school,” Loay Mohamed said.

Mohamed moved to Albany two years ago from the Middle East, with Arabic being his first language. But he was determined to pick up English as his second.

“If you want to learn English, you have to practice always, and try to speak,” Mohamed said.

Mohamed loves to learn through reading. His favorite genre of books is action.

Mohamed is one of many students with diverse backgrounds in the program, as more than a dozen countries are represented in the classrooms.

For students like Jeremi Gutierrez, who moved from the Dominican Republic, the program offers an opportunity.

“This can help me find a better job or help my family one day if they need help in English,” Gutierrez said.

While Gutierrez’s English is still coming along, he says there is one word to describe his time in the program.

“Happy,” Gutierrez said.

While the students continue to advance their language skills, the program is urging to use their voice along the way. This summer, the theme for these students has been “speak up,” as much of their material has been about making their voices known in their communities.

One of the teachers helping share this message is Kristen Backes, who has asked students to choose issues they want to see fixed in their community.

“We talked about all the wonderful things the city has, like places to work together towards what we have,” Backes said.

These topics are no small matter for the group of young students who moved to the community within the last few years.

“They’ve seen all these things, and it’s awesome that they want to have a voice and say something about it, rather than being scared of it,” Backes said.

The majority of students that leave this program will walk away with knowledge of a language that was once foreign to them. Some hope to apply this new skill to help give back to the community.

“I hope to be a lawyer and be a good one,” Mohamed said. “We have to use our voice to change the world.”