Overcoming the language barrier
IT wasn't so much mastering the English language that posed a problem for Polish student Dorota Czajak – it was getting to grips with the Yorkshire accent!
But even trying to get her ear tuned to the Tyke dialect could not dent the enthusiam of 26-year-old Dorota for learning English.
The student from Rzeszow in southern Poland has been living in Brighouse for two years and working in factories in Halifax to earn enough money to pay for language tuition. Having graduated from Rands, an international language school in Hebden Bridge, this summer, Dorota is now planning to travel to south America, her ambition being to see as much of the world as she can.
"I wanted to learn English because it is spoken all over the world and a knowledge of English will enable me to communicate in most countries," said Dorota, who has been living with friends in William Henry Street.
She had learned some English at school in Poland but was keen to take her language skills to another level and moved to England two years ago with that aim. In that she was typical of many of the students taking lessons at Rands.
Director and teacher Sasha Goldsmith said: "Many of our students hope to improve their English in the workplace but they don't always get the opportunity to do that and find they need additional lessons to take them to the level they require. They are very motivated to learn as much as they can in their time in England and have a very determined work ethic."
Dorota worked at Nestle and McVitie's in Halifax, starting off with packing jobs before moving on to machine work, while taking individual language coaching with Sasha.
"My English has improved a lot and Sasha has been a brilliant teacher. I have a lot more confidence and now I feel quite happy getting served in shops or asking for directions. There is no way I would have been able to learn so much if I'd stayed in Poland."
Working alongside other migrants from eastern Europe, Dorota often found that a little knowledge of English went a long way. "When I first started at McVitie's, one of my friends was from Lithuania. She didn't know any Polish and I didn't know any Lithuanian but we managed to communicate in English – she was my translator!"
Dorota has enjoyed her time in West Yorkshire and feels she has coped well with learning a new language and holding down employment – excellent preparation in fact for the months ahead, backpacking on the other side of the world.
Rands provides English language tuition to professional migrant workers living in Yorkshire and to international students from Russia, Poland, China, Turkey and Algeria. The school recently gained British Council accreditation which assures the quality of tuition and school management.
Yvonne Bromyard from Nestle Learning Centre said language tuition enabled migrant workers to cope better with the demands of employment.
"The students have improved greatly because of their lessons.
“They are able to cope much better with everyday language as well as being more confident with the specialist terminology of the workplace.”
For Sasha the determination of the students to learn as much as possible during their time in West Yorkshire is impressive.
“The eastern Europeans think nothing of working up to 40 hours a week and then studying English on top of that. They often come to England having gained good qualifications in their own country and are keen to learn more. They also have a strong social background which helps them settle in.”
But as well as eastern Europeans, Sasha often finds herself teaching English to mixed classes of students from Russia, Turkey, Slovakia, Qatar and other parts of the world.
“It makes for a great atmosphere in classes and all the teaching is in English so the students have to learn fast,” she said.
Rands also hosts a summer school, a six-week intensive English course which coincides with the Hebden Bridge arts festival. Students stay with local families which enables them to further practise their English and learn about English culture.
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Weather for Halifax
Tuesday 07 February 2012
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