Ashik’s story
Ashik is from Bangladesh and arrived in the UK in April 2019 to join his wife and children.
‘I am a pharmacist and I was working in a pharmacy in Bangladesh before I came to the UK. I would want to continue my work as a pharmacist here, but I need to go through updating my qualification and I need to improve my English as it is a very complex job and I have to use English a lot. I must get my English to a certain level before I start my course.
My understanding of English is quite good as I learnt a little bit while I was in Bangladesh, but I need to work on my speaking and other skills. I decided to learn English to improve my life here: talking to other people, getting a job and helping my children with schoolwork.
My wife is working, and I look after children, so I cannot go to college. My wife learnt English with LEAH when she first came to the UK and she had a very good experience and improved her English in just two years. Now her English is good, and she has a job. So, my wife, she suggested that would be a good opportunity for me to learn English at home. Then when my youngest daughter was born in 2020 her health visitor came and asked how we were doing and suggest LEAH to help with my English.
I started learning with my teacher online in April 2020 as it was Covid pandemic and all support was online. I enjoy talking to my teacher about different issues. I get homework on specific topics and then we discuss those when we meet online with my teacher. Now we are looking at driving lessons theme and how to get a driving license; that I really want to get. So, it is very useful for me.
After my lessons with LEAH teacher I can now talk to people in English more. When I go to pick up my children from school, I can talk to their teacher and ask how my daughters are doing at school. I am still very shy; I worry a lot about mistakes I make. I went for a job interview and I failed because I did not have enough confidence to speak. During Covid pandemic we all stayed at home and my wife and children tried speaking English with me, but it did not work so well. I learn better with my LEAH teacher.
In future I want to improve my English, so I can get a job to help supporting my family and continue improving my English. One day I would like to go back to working as a pharmacist here in the UK.’
