When Lupe Beltran came to the United States from Guanajuato, Mexico, 16 years ago, she couldn’t speak English.

But after studying the language tirelessly for years, Beltran won a statewide English essay contest last year sponsored by the California Library Literacy Services.

Beltran isn’t the only person in her family with a love for languages. Her three children are fluent in Spanish and English. And Carolina, her eldest child, is the founder of the Spanish Club at Nevada Union High School and a bilingual reading program at the Grass Valley library.

“I felt amazed (on winning the contest),” Beltran, 37, said. “For the competition, you needed to choose a book in English and write a letter to the author and the California Literacy Services saying how the book changed your life.”

Beltran chose a parenting book called “How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk,” by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish.

In her letter, Beltran talked about her difficult childhood and how the book taught her not to repeat the mistakes her grandmother made while raising her.

“I’m very thankful about your book,” Beltran wrote in her letter. “It taught me how to deal with my kids’ feelings, to engage their cooperation, to guide their behavior without punishment, to encourage their autonomy and to praise to help them to build their self-esteem.”

In her early days in the United States, Beltran lived in Colusa County where she took English classes at a community college. She also volunteered in the library as well as in her childrens’ schools just to listen and converse more in English.

“The only reason I was volunteering was to learn English and to teach my kids the value of education,” she said. “I forced myself to talk to people in English, because I spoke very little English.”

The biggest hurdle was stereotyping, Beltran said.

“Once they know you are from Mexico, they think you are dumb,” she said. “Just because people come from Mexico and work at low-paid jobs, they think you’re not smart enough to speak another language.”

Spanish-speaking people (in the United States) often don’t get to go to school because they have to work all day, Beltran said. The downside for them is that you don’t know the grammar, Beltran said.

“When you’re learning another language, it’s important to learn the grammar,” she said. “If you don’t, it’s difficult.

“I learned English grammar at the University of Mexico City, so I knew all the rules, but I did not speak (the language),” she said.

To create interest in Spanish among students at NU, Beltran’s 16-year-old daughter Carolina started the Spanish Club in September 2007.

“It all started the past summer when I went on a trip to San Francisco,” Carolina said. “We went to this day care where there was this little boy who spoke no English, just Spanish. The teachers used to yell at him. But when I would talk to him in Spanish, he would understand. He was a good kid. It broke my heart to see he was misunderstood. That’s when I decided to do something with my bilingualism to help people.”

Carolina approached Nevada County Library and started a half-an-hour bilingual reading program on the second and fourth Saturdays every month at the Grass Valley library. About 15 to 22 children attend the reading sessions, Carolina said.

The Beltrans moved to Grass Valley nine years ago, Lupe Beltran said.

Today, she’s a private tutor in Spanish, teaching high school students, she said. Lupe Beltran also teaches enrichment classes at Gold Run School and Nevada City Elementary School, she added.

Her 10-year-old son, Ben, was selected two years ago to do a television commercial promoting reading among children for Comcast, she said. Her youngest daughter, Andrea, 7, is a promising sportswoman, she added.

To contact Soumitro Sen, e-mail ssen@theunion.com or call 477-4229.