Farm workers. New immigrants. Residents who have lived in Auburn for 20 years.

All are members of the Hispanic community who are looking to communicate with their neighbors, find jobs and learn vocabulary related to their professions.

They can do so from 6 to 7 p.m. every Monday at the Hispanic Community Center, 169 Genesee St., when tutors from Literacy Volunteers of Cayuga County teach a free "English as a Second Language" class.

"It's very hard to live a productive life if you don't understand the language," said Literacy Volunteers executive director Elisa Hunt.

"We're helping them become productive citizens."

Hunt's organization got involved with the Hispanic Community Center because its director, Yolanda Rivera, is a former student.

ESL tutors structure classes to participants' language levels and needs, Hunt said. Topics vary from lessons on 911 to learning the vocabulary required to read a menu or obtain a driver's license.

"Job applications are a big one with the Hispanic community," Hunt said, noting that a lot of the tutoring is done with pictures and demonstrations.

While Literacy Volunteers offers year-round classes for permanent Hispanic county residents, during the summer the organization also puts together special sessions for a group of farmworkers.

These workers come to the southern region of the county for two months every year to help with the harvest season, Hunt said. Literacy Volunteers' tutors conduct one class a week.

"We do a lot of farming vocabulary with them because it's their livelihood," Hunt said.

"That's what they need to know."

Literacy Volunteers has been teaching ESL classes since 1975. Tutors receive 18 hours of training and are certified through ProLiteracy America.

Anyone interested in attending a class can call 253-5241.