Andrew has been teaching ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes at the centre since July 2023. With a lifelong passion for education and a deep interest in languages, he brings a wealth of experience and a genuine enthusiasm for helping others learn.
Like many things in life, I started working as an ESOL teacher at JRS UK through a chain of events, of being in the right place at the right time. As a man of faith, I can also see the hand of God here, pushing me forward to volunteering for the role either because He thought I needed a new challenge or because He thought everyone needed a good laugh!
I have been an educator all my life and have an interest in learning languages myself, so when the opportunity to teach English at JRS UK presented itself, I thought I’d accept the challenge.
One of the most important factors in our ESOL classes is that it is completely voluntary. Refugee friends come because they have a desire to learn to become better speakers and to learn more about life in the UK.
Friends are also able to relax during the lessons and to work and learn at their own pace. They don’t have to jump through any hoops, and no one judges them. We celebrate their efforts at reading, speaking, and listening with lots of praise and laughter. I also make the point that I, their teacher, am also learning with them and through them. They are not the only ones who make mistakes: I do too.
The lessons need to be challenging and but also interesting, broken into short segments, whether that is reading, listening, or doing grammar exercises. I like to move at a good pace and even give them homework which more and more are beginning to do and are sometimes surprised if I say there is none this week!
It is also good to get refugee friends to share their experiences about life in their own countries and cultures when they were growing up, comparing life in the UK with their own traditions. Others in the group find this as fascinating as I do.
What I also try to do is to get those whose English is a little stronger to pair with others whose English is weaker, sort of unofficial ‘mentors’, and this helps boost both the confidence of the Mentor and the Mentee. They often joke about who is going to be the ‘Class Monitor’ this week!
How do I know the lessons are making a difference?
Firstly, it is in the way that they want to contribute, willing to make mistakes but to try and try and try again. The way they want to be the first to volunteer to read, even though they say their English is not good.
Secondly, it is through the stories they bring to the class on occasion about a phrase they have used during the week in some of their encounters with friends, or other classes, of how they now understand what a shopkeeper with a strong cockney accent was saying to them. The ‘lightbulb’ moment when things make sense to them!
Thirdly, it is through the conversations they have with other volunteers at the Centre, either in meetings or on the telephone, who tell me that their English is so much better than it was a year ago!
On this International Day of Education, we should remember that we are all learners, that to live a full life is to always be open to learning something new and to consolidate that learning, to have a generosity of heart and mind and to be willing to share our experiences with others without seeking anything in return except to see them grow and to see them shine.
– Andrew