This year a senior group of ESOL students have been given the responsibility of organising and publishing items of interest as they occur in our ESOL classroom and wider St Albans School ESOL community. I'm sure that they would enjoy any feedback that you are able to provide them with.


                                    Goal Setting Interviews in Week Six

A letter has been sent home to inform you about our interview process. If your child is receiving ESOL support within the school and you would like to meet with me to discuss the ESOL programme or your child's progress within it, please make an appointment according to the online booking information sheet, or with our office staff. Please be aware that appointment times are 15 minutes.

    Adapting to a new country and a new language:

The first time we met as a senior ESOL group, we talked about what it was like when we came to New Zealand. Most of us didn’t speak English. We had different reasons for coming here.  

The sentences that we have written, are about everyone’s reason for coming to New Zealand. We want you to know how difficult it was to understand the language and how unusual we found the behaviour of people who lived here.

Introduced by Ryota and Shayan

Ryota  

I’m from Japan. I came here one year ago at the beginning of 2013.  It was my mum’s idea to come here.  My mum wanted me to speak English like she can.  She was in England when she went to Intermediate School.

When I came here for a holiday I couldn’t speak English so I felt crazy.

During that holiday, my parents bought a house and that’s why I’m here to learn English.

When I joined this school I was out of my depth. Can you imagine that you are in the classroom where everyone is speaking another language and you don’t understand anything they are saying?  It took me ages to feel comfortable.

Now I am feeling totally comfortable because I have Kiwi friends and I’m just feeling fine. I often think about the time when I came to NZ and how I felt really funny sitting on a chair facing the Teacher when I couldn’t understand anything.

Shayan

We came to New Zealand for my mum’s work. She is doing a doctorate in oncology. She is a nurse and is studying here. We may be going to stay in New Zealand for two more years. My mum would like to find a good job here.

When I first came to New Zealand I was quite sad because I couldn’t speak English.  It was hard to be in the classroom and my head hurt. I thought that English was supposed to sound the way the American people speak.

ESOL classes have helped me to understand the kiwi accent and to read and write. It’s much easier to learn when the groups are small and everyone is trying to learn English together. 

Nabin

I came to New Zealand because I was a refugee. I came here from Nepal.  When I first came to New Zealand I didn’t know any English or anything about my new country.  I couldn’t speak, read or write in English.  Coming to school I have learned more and more.  I am proud of what I know.

Uday

I came here two months ago. I come from India, a place called Himachal Pardash.  The population there was very large.  When I came to New Zealand, I didn’t really know how to speak English well.  I like how the people speak in New Zealand. They speak very fast but sweetly.  English helps me to use technology. I can use the ipad and computer.

My father came to New Zealand first and he loved this place. He thought it would be good to bring his family out from India.  I love this place too.  The streets are clean and you are safe on the roads.  I really like going to the local park to play.

I hope that going to school in New Zealand and learning English will help me become a rich man one day.

Nisha

My family came from Nepal two years ago. I wanted to come with my grandmother, but she went to Palmerston North.  We came out as a refugee family and we stayed in Christchurch.

When I was in Nepal, we had people come along to school to teach us English. That made it easier when we got here because I could understand what people were saying some of the time.

After having two years at school in New Zealand, I feel a bit like a kiwi. I am feeling that I fit in now.

Elena

In 2008, my family came to New Zealand. My grandparents were already here.  My mum thought it would be a safe place to live. In Russia some people were finding life quite hard.

I was only three when my grandparents found a house in Christchurch for us. I was nervous at first because I could only say, ”Hello.”  I really thought that we were still somewhere in Russia. It was really strange for my brother and I.

When I started kindergarten, nobody taught me to speak English.  I had a friend who didn’t speak English and we used to use our hands to talk to each other. After a while I knew a few words.

I came here to school at St Albans when I was six. I’ve found speaking and writing quite hard at times. The great thing is that I’ve made friends at school. They come from different parts of the world; Ethiopia, Japan, Russia and of course New Zealand.  We all know that differences are really special.