Kateryna Blossom, talks about her experience on the ESOL course
04 April 2023
Arriving in the UK.
“When we arrived, my host who hosted me and part of my family in her home knew about this course. She took us to college last May and we were welcomed by the Chancellor of Chesterfield College and met our ESOL teachers. I applied for the course because I wanted to improve my listening and speaking skills. I also wanted to learn how to teach English in the British education system because I was sure it would be different to Ukrainian. The course went great, my first teacher was Clair Dutton, I entered Entry 3 right away, because I already had some knowledge, as I studied English in Ukraine. Clair Dutton is a lovely lady and an experienced teacher who started our introduction to the course at the beginning of last year.
Learning about British Culture.
The next two levels were taught to me by Caroline Cooling. Caroline paid a lot of attention to us and involved us in all the interesting, creative tasks, and every day was full of material. We were also taught about relevant topics, for example, the holidays and traditions of celebrating Christmas or Shrovetide in Great Britain. She diligently interacted with us through all emails, sent lots of material and gave us as much knowledge as possible.
Learning takes time.
First of all, I was surprised by the pronunciation of some words, because in Ukraine we developed a different pronunciation of them, so at first, it was unusual. I was impressed by the spelling of the letters and the alphabet. All tasks, whether grammatical or reading tasks are radically different to Ukrainian tests of English, so the exams from all parts were impressive. I have already recommended this course to other Ukrainians who came to Chesterfield and were interested in learning English.
The tutors were inspiring.
My teachers, Clair Dutton and Caroline Cooling are charming women who gave their utmost effort, creativity, strength, patience and inspiration to teach us the best. Undoubtedly, the course helped me to get used to the British accent. It has taught me to understand the language of British people better, how they pronounce words as well to speak better myself. I saw a lot of new words, phrases and idioms that can be used in everyday life, so this is a merit of this course.
Looking for a job in the UK.
I am actively looking for a job and this course has helped me feel more confident and independent in writing resumes, conducting interviews and communicating routinely.
The colleges support.
Thus, Chesterfield College provided incredible support for 9 months (in my case), provided free transport to the college when needed, workbooks, everything we needed to make us feel comfortable and at ease and what else we needed to study and improve the English language. Special thanks to Chesterfield College for giving me the opportunity and full support to complete a three-day course at Northern College, it’s an incredible place with which I have many wonderful memories.”
