Eliene’s story

Eliene is from Brazil and is having one to one lessons at home with a LEAH volunteer.

 “When I arrived in London I was only able to speak Portuguese, my native language. My British husband can speak some Portuguese and is a native English speaker, but it is not easy in a new country if you do not learn the language.

After trying to learn from books, I realised that I needed more help to practice my English to help me make friends and do every day things like shopping and buying train fares.

Our local GP surgery told us about LEAH and I went along to a community class. I made friends with students who were from all over the world. As we have two young boys, going to the classes was not always easy for me to attend without taking them along as well.

LEAH were fantastic and organised for me to have a volunteer teacher at home to learn English.

My volunteer is Jean who comes to my home once weekly and has made such a big difference to my language skills that I am more confident in having everyday conversations and getting on with life now.

It's everyday things like going to speak to teachers at the nursery, visiting the Post Office, explaining the bus route, looking at the tube maps and understanding instructions that are now so much easier.

I would highly recommend any student to contact LEAH for help if they want to improve their English speaking. They are friendly, professional and really understand how to improve people’s quality of life through learning."