TWO Aberdeenshire women have taken it upon themselves to help integrate members of their local immigrant population into the community by providing free English lessons.
Sandra Campbell from Ellon and Anne Davies from Drumoak first decided to teach when they realised that some members of their church congregation required help with their English.
“Anne and I have both retired recently and wish to use our time constructively and help others, said Sandra.
They began taking classes in January and now have 11 students of different ages, ability and nationality and hope that the size of their class will continue to grow in the future.
Sandra said: “For us, it has been rewarding to be able to use our skills to help others and to see them progress each week.
“We have made new friends and look forward to the classes.
“The students are keen to learn and this makes it easier for us.”
Sandra and Anne took a Teach English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) course which taught them all they needed to start teaching English in a single weekend. They also received additional support from TEFL Scotland which, on learning of this worthwhile activity, bought materials for their classes.
The women’s church, New Life International Church, on Leadside Road, Aberdeen, also donated money for them to buy further materials.
People can have different reasons for wanting to teach English. Some see it as a way of giving something back to the community, others as a way of gaining valuable teaching experience before teaching abroad, and some consider it a meaningful way to spend their time in retirement.
TEFL training is open to people from all sorts of backgrounds and ambitions, and training is a mixture of classroom and online courses which can be taken over 20-110 hours.
For further information, e-mail Joe Hallwood at joe@teflscotland.co.uk, or see www.tefl scotland.co.uk
