Landing in a totally new culture and learning to speak a new language is overwhelming--as the author found out when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. Now he tries to remember these lessons while teaching immigrant students in the Cambridge, Massachusetts. Empathizing with language learners in their struggle to learn English while coping with new surroundings and functioning academically, Saavedra asserts, is essential to teaching them. He explains how he draws on memories of his time learning Portuguese in Mozambique--his emotions and his recollection of what kind of supports were best--to understand and respond effectively to the ELLs he teaches. Interspersed with Saavedra's practical suggestions are excerpts from the journal he kept in Mozambique that illustrate what it feels like to be a newcomer striving to master a new language.