Charina, the professional job-hunter

DL student, Charina

My name is Charina and I come from the Philippines.  I came to Australia with my two daughters about 3 years ago to join my husband who came here 3 years before us. We could have joined him earlier, but I was a bit hesitant as I had a great job back home. I had to put my family first however, and couldn't deprive my daughters from being with their father.

After settling down in Roma in Queensland I decided to enrol in an English course. So I started learning English at TAFE. Unfortunately the classes were mixed levels and my daughter didn't cope well with her new childcare, so I decided to join the Distance Learning program.

DL suited me so well as I started feeling more confident socialising and mingling with the community. I studied the Work theme with my teacher who helped me update my resume. Then I started applying for different jobs. Soon I changed into a professional job-hunter and attended one interview after another near and far. With every interview, I gained more confidence and applied for more jobs.

I finally found a job as a Room Attendant in a local hotel. Do you think I stopped there! No way! I continued my job hunt.

Last December I found a job in aviation and thought I was getting closer to my dream job. The employer arranged a training course for me, so I went to Brisbane for training. As soon as I returned home however, I found out that my husband, who is the main breadwinner in the family, got a new job in Chinchilla which is 2 hours away from Roma.

My next job was to organise the move to Chinchilla, find a new place to live and new schools within 2 weeks.  That of course meant that my new job was gone as I couldn't possibly commute 4 hours a day to work at Roma airport.

This is very challenging; nevertheless, I'm not the type of person who gives up easily. I am finishing my DL classes soon but I've got enough confidence to look for another job closer to home.  Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Great determination Charina! We will keep our fingers crossed for you and wish you all the best in your job hunt.

Balancing family and work responsibilities can be difficult.

• What sacrifices do people make for the family? Do you have examples from your personal experience?
• How can mothers balance work and family responsibilities?
• Do you think mothers or fathers should stay home with their children?  Why/why not?

 We would like to read your comments below.

A journey we walk together

Tasmiah & Teacher Lorinda
meet face to face
Navitas City College

My name is Tasmiah and I come from Bangladesh.  After graduating with a Bachelor of Business degree, I had several administrative positions. Life was simple but comfortable then.

In 2014 I got married to a Bengali man who had been living in Australia. I left my beloved family and country for Australia, a totally unknown land to me. I came with hopes and dreams for a better life and a brighter career.

The first three months in Australia were like a honeymoon. My husband took me touring the city every weekend. I came to know the neighbourhood and I started to adapt to life in Sydney. I started my first English classes at Navitas in Sydney city.  After two months I changed to Distance Learning when I decided to look for a job.

Things however did not go as smoothly as I'd expected.  Firstly I couldn't adjust to the unpredictable weather. I often felt cold and miserable and missed the sunshine in my home country. Then there was the challenge of finding a job. I hardly received any replies for my applications. My chances were limited as sometimes there were over a 100 applicants for the same job. I began to feel discouraged and even depressed. With all the golden dreams I had before, I felt I achieved nothing and was disappointed.

But thanks to the two DL teachers I've had. Despite my frustration, they remained patient and sympathetic and they helped me remain optimistic and hopeful. My first DL teacher Cristina suggested I look for volunteer jobs to start off. I took her advice and started looking for volunteer jobs but Cristina left and Lorinda became my new DL teacher.

The transition from one teacher to another wasn't easy. It was another few weeks before Lorinda and I came to understand each other well. Since then, Lorinda has been a great source of encouragement to me. Because of her positive support and inspiration, I have learnt to remain hopeful about the future.

In the past year, I have taken up different volunteer and part-time jobs, but the prospect of getting a stable full-time job remained dismal. I often felt like giving up but Lorinda was always there, boosting my confidence and making sure that I believed in my strengths and abilities.

My wishes came true last month. After working as a volunteer for a business college for just over a month I was offered a full-time job. The job is demanding and there is a lot I need to learn but I feel confident that with determination and hard work I will be able to settle in my job and make a career in this area.

DL has helped me move forward in my life and find a place in society where I actually belong. It is a journey that I will always treasure.

Congratulations Tasmiah on your achievement and our best wishes for a successful career.

• In what ways can you identify with Tasmiah's journey?
• What helps you remain positive and optimistic about the future?
• What are the stages of adjusting to a new culture?

Your comments will help build our DL community.

Yanie meets her DL teacher in Jakarta

Teacher Ross and Yanie

My name is Yanie and I come from Indonesia.  I started my AMEP course at Maclean TAFE, north of NSW in February 2015 but I had to stop because my husband and I wanted to go on a short trip to visit some places in NSW. I didn't want to stop studying English so I found out about Distance Learning and started my lessons the same time we started our trip.

I have been studying with my teacher Ross since April 2015 and we have developed a special connection. Ross happened to have a special interest in Indonesia. He has Indonesian friends so he is familiar with the culture and has been to Indonesia many times. We both particularly like Indonesian culinary art and often chat about Indonesian food and lifestyle.

My husband and I moved to Toowoomba in Queensland and luckily I found a job. Despite being busy with work I have never missed a class. My teacher Ross has helped me improve my English and gain confidence.  It's been over a year since I met Ross over the Internet and I often wondered if I would ever get to meet him face to face.

One day Ross told me that he was planning a holiday to Indonesia. I was feeling a bit jealous because I had not gone back to my home country since coming to Australia and I was feeling homesick. When Ross returned and told me about his wonderful trip and all the nice food he had I was so tempted to go back.

I was finally able to take leave and my husband and I arranged to stop at Bali for a holiday then go to Jakarta to see my family. I told Ross that I would miss his classes while I was away. But one month before our departure Ross told me that he was also going to be in Indonesia by the time we were there which was a great surprise.

We arranged a time to catch up in Jakarta and I was so excited to meet Ross for real. We had lunch together and talked for hours. I couldn't believe that we finally got the chance to meet face to face and the timing was right for both of us to be in Indonesia.

As soon as I returned from my holiday I resumed my DL lessons. I am grateful that I have a teacher who not only teaches me good English but also has appreciation and respect for my culture. I hope we can meet again one day.

Thanks Yanie for sharing your interesting story and it's great to see your commitment to learning.

• What do you miss the most about your home country?
• How is meeting people over the Internet different from or similar to meeting them face to face?
• If you were to arrange a holiday, where would you like to go and why?

Note: If you are visiting Sydney you are welcome to visit our DL office and arrange to meet your teacher.  

Please share your comments below to Yani's story or to any of the discussion questions.  If you're not sure how to add a comment go the "Comments" tab of the top menu.

Aguer keeps positive

My name is Aguer and I’m from South Sudan. I come from a big family who are still living in my country. I’m married to a Sudanese man who has lived in Australia for 11 years and is a Mathematics and Science teacher.  I have been here for 10 months and I am already feeling very settled and happy. My English has improved a lot since I started in Distance Learning with my teacher Lisbeth who has given me so much help and support.

I was introduced to my husband through my family and after we got married in South Sudan I joined him in Australia. We now live in a small town in Queensland called Charters Towers, which was founded in the 1870s, when gold was discovered here.

When I was very young my life was not easy. Due to war and persecution my mother and I were forced to live in a refugee camp, called Kakuma, for 7 years. It was very difficult to live in the camp in very harsh conditions.  I’m however a very positive person and I like challenges.  I feel so blessed to be here in this great country where I can start a new life.  I’m determined to improve my English in DL and by volunteering in the community and eventually get a good job.

I’m so lucky because my Home Tutor, Bruna, works at the local Information Centre so this is how I became a volunteer there 2 days a week.  It's lovely working at the Centre because all the staff members are so helpful. I assist Bruna by giving information to tourists. I love meeting new people and I enjoy talking to them. 

I love volunteering because I believe it is important not just to focus on working to earn money but to give back to the community wherever possible.  There was an article in the local newspaper about volunteering and the theme was ‘Give Happy, Live Happy’ which celebrates that there is so much more to volunteering than simply giving your time and skills to help others, it’s a core part of the community.  What goes around comes around.

As for my future plans, I want to work with children and I am going to enrol in a Certificate 3 in Early Childhood and Care. After I complete this course I want to work in a childcare centre and then maybe be a nurse. I am not sure yet, but I know that I’ll work very hard at achieving my goals. My DL teacher, Lisbeth, told me that in Australia everyone can have a fair go!

I hope that one day when I am settled here in Australia and I have a good job, I can build a small school for children in my hometown in South Sudan. I love children and I want to help them get a better education, because I think education is the key to a better future and a better life.

Thanks Aguer for sharing your wonderful story.  We wish you all the best for your future.

• What kind of challenges migrants face before and after coming to Australia?
• What helps migrants overcome their challenges?
• Why is it important to give back to the community? What could this look like for you?
• If you had the opportunity to give back to your country of origin, what would you do?

From telecom engineer to baker and back again!

Tien, DL student

Tien was a telecom engineer in Vietnam for 17 years.  When he first came to Australia it took him 4 months to get a job as a production operator in an electrical company.  He liked his job because he could work in his field and he already had a lot of knowledge about electrical products.

Tien spent 10 months working on a casual basis in this company but the work started to drop off.  So he decided to do something completely different. He and his brother started a bakery business!

Tien said that his brother had been a baker for 8 years but this was the first time he had owned a shop himself. Tien is excited about the new challenge as there are lots of things to learn such as which ingredients to mix, how to bake cakes and different types of bread.  Tien has even learnt how to make donuts!

Tien also has the opportunity in the shop to practise his listening and speaking skills when he talks with customers and is learning a lot of new vocabulary to do with setting up a business. His DL teacher, Meredith, helps Tien with his pronunciation and with the language he needs to communicate with the customers. She says that Tien's English has improved a lot and he can now understand most of what he hears and can keep a conversation going.

Tien is hoping that their business will grow quickly and that he will be able to become a baker by next year.  In the meantime, he has had good news from his old company.  They rang him about a month ago and asked him to start work there again, so now he has two jobs.  He works for his brother in the morning and then does a shift in the factory from 3-11 pm.  Let's hope he gets some sleep sometimes!

Congratulations to Tien for the progress he made both in improving his English and settling into Australia.  We wish him all the best for his business ventures.

• What are the benefits and challenges of having your own business?
• Would you prefer to have your own business or be an employee in a company? Why?
• Have you ever been involved in a family business and what was that like? 
• If you were to start your own business, what would it be and where would you get help?

We'd love to read your comments to any of the above questions or to Tien's story.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going

All the people in the world dream of a better life.  Like any other person, I too had big dreams of a better life in Australia.  I was very excited to meet an Australian man who told me he loved me and would look after me until the end of life.  We got married, I took early retirement from my government job in Thailand and came to live in Australia.  I left behind my two daughters in their twenties for my new dream, my new husband, my new life.  I was very happy.

We settled in North Queensland and my husband worked as a bus driver then a truck driver.  I had different jobs, cleaning buses, babysitting, housekeeping, working as a kitchen hand and on a farm planting, picking and packing.  I couldn't choose my jobs in Australia but I worked hard and did an honest job everywhere I worked.  The saddest thing for me was when our marriage broke down and my husband left me.  I wasn't good enough to be his wife any more and I was disappointed that he wasn't the man I thought he was.

Things got tougher for me.  I had no place to live so I stayed in an old church.  Jobs were up and down and I didn't have enough money to send to my family in Thailand.  I got sick and my health got worse.  But through tough times I learned many life lessons and found strength to keep going.  God gave me many blessings to make up for the hard times.

I found myself using my energy to study.  I did a certificate in food handling and a certificate in construction at TAFE and I'm studying AMEP by Distance Learning.  I got my Australian citizenship after trying so hard to read the book for 4 months.  I was proud of myself to get 19/20 in the test.  I had mixed feelings, happy to be Australian but sad for all the things I lost in the past.  Last month five of my new friends came along with me to the citizenship ceremony then we celebrated the Aussie way, we went to the pub and had a couple of beers!

Such is life, the ups and the downs .. It tests you to see what you're made of .. yet I keep going, I keep trying, I keep dreaming .. dreaming of a better life.

Thanks to our student for sharing this great story of resilience, courage and hope.  We wish you every success and happiness for your future.

• What were your expectations before you came to Australia?
• Was your experience different from your expectations? In what ways?
• What helps you deal with life challenges?
• What does your dream of a better life look like?

Volunteering connects Dominika to her community

Dominika, DL student

I'm from Poland and I live in a small country town in South Australia where I volunteer from time to time at the local golf club.  In Poland volunteering is not valued because it earns you no money.  But now I can see that what you do for free can be worth much more than money.  It is great to be able to help others, use your skills and learn new skills while supporting a local business in a small town.

I help with decorating the club for special events and with registrations for tournaments. Sometimes I also help in the kitchen where I exchange cooking experiences with other staff members.  Most importantly however, I get the chance to talk to people, improve my English and understand the way country people talk which is very quick and full of slang.

The biggest challenge for me is when I do registrations and I have to find people's names on the list.  Because they are club members and locals, they assume I should know their surnames.  I can usually remember the first name and the face but not the surname.  This however helps me understand their Aussie English.  For example there was this member that everyone called "Blue" but I had trouble finding his name on the list under Blue.  When I asked him for his surname it was nothing like the colour blue.  I found out later that in Australia people call you "Blue" when you have red hair!

Volunteering has made me understand the Australian culture and feel part of my community.  I enjoy helping people and I don't feel so homesick in Australia any more.

Talking about country, slang and blue Dominika is sharing this popular Aussie song by country singer John Williamson called "True Blue".

Following The National Volunteer Week we've had a number of responses from DL students with positive stories.  Thanks Dominika for sharing your experience with volunteering and this song.

• What is the meaning of "true blue" in the song?
• Are there any slang expressions that you learned from talking to other Australians?
• Is volunteering valued in your country of origin?  Why / why not?
• If you had the chance to volunteer, what work would you like to do?

Better late than never - A proud AMEP grandma

Sandra & her grandchildren

My name is Sandra. I'm Italian, from Bologna, a Medieval town with the oldest University in the world.  I'm 70 years old and now (with my husband Luigi) I'm a DL student.  I think we are the only people so aged, but we must study English, having decided to live in Canberra because our only daughter and our only (for now) granddaughter live here.

At the moment however, we're waiting excitedly for the second baby!!

Writing about my experience in Australia is very helpful to calm our excitement.  I think that the many difficulties that I have to face is nothing compared to the happiness of living every day as grandparents, or 'Nonni', so it's worth the effort. 

It's very hard to learn a new language at our age. Someone said that it's a good way to keep your brain active, but I reply that my heart is suffering with the stresssssss!  Yes, everyone is very friendly and patient, but I feel embarrassed or stupid when, very often, I don't understand what they tell me.  Moreover we have to speak Italian with our 6 year old granddaughter, who is already perfectly bilingual. But we don't work, so our practice of English isn't intensive.

Luckily, we have met lots of Italo-Australian people who are very kind. Now our dear friends, who helped us to become integrated into the local community, and some warm neighbours are very curious and interested in the Italian culture (such as food, fashion, movies), so we are proud to add some little pieces to the Australian multicultural life.

Another big stroke of luck was to meet Christine, our DL teacher who is so patient and supportive when we make lots of mistakes.  Now, she's becoming a friend, because she knows our problems and our delights and she encourages us in our little steps to improve our English.

.......
While I was waiting for my blog post to be published, my second granddaughter was born.  Welcome my dear Audrey Alice!  Thank you for your red hair, like me!  This is another special gift and for that I love you much more!"

Congratulations to Sandra, Luigi and family on the safe arrival of your granddaugher and on being a good example for our more senior AMEP learners.

• Is age a barrier to learning English?  Why or why not?
• What are the challenges and rewards for the more senior migrants in Australia?
• Is it necessary for grandparents to learn English and how can they practise their English?

Why not share your views below!

Neesa starts her own business

Neesa, DL student

My name is Neesa and I come from Thailand.  I met my husband in Thailand and we started a relationship after he visited me many times there.  I came to Australia in 2010 and we got married in 2013.

I was very excited but also nervous at the same time because everything was new and I wasn't familiar with the language or the culture.  It took me a long time to understand the Australian accent so my husband always helped me with that and I now can understand English better than before and have become more confident and independent.

I improved English by studying English at Southbank TAFE for a year in 2011.  After school I went to work every day.  I enjoyed my studies and made lots of new friends and I also talked to many people at work.  Learning English is a never ending story for me.  I am now studying English by distance with the DL program at Navitas.

Before I came to Australia I worked as a massage therapist in Thailand for a year.  This helped me improve my English because I had a lot of English speaking customers that I had to talk to.

In Australia, I worked in a Thai Day Spa in Brisbane for 3 years before starting my own business.  As a result I gained enough experience and confidence to be able to work on my own.  I now work from my home doing Thai massage.  I am planning to grow my business in the future, recruit some staff and have my own shop.

My advice to my migrant friends is to relax and enjoy Australia and the new lifestyle.  They shouldn't worry if at first their English is not great as many new arrivals are in the same boat.

Congratulations to Neesa on improving her English and starting her own business.  We wish her all the best for the future.

• Do you find it hard to understand the Australian accent?  
• How long do you think it takes to gain confidence in English?
• What do you think about Neesa's advice to new migrants?
• If you were to start your own business, what kind of business and what steps would you need to take?

Sandra leads a balanced life

Sandra and her handiwork

My name is Sandra and I'm from Manizales, Colombia.  I have been in Australia for 2 years.  I live in Toowoomba in Queensland with my partner. He is Australian and I met him in Colombia in August 2012. We have a baby. He is 16 months old and his name is Ethan.

I'm very happy living in Australia.  I study English at TAFE and also by distance learning with my teacher Erika once a week. I have learned a lot and enjoy my DL lessons.   Distance Learning is convenient and flexible; it allows me to study from home and look after my baby as well.

In my free time I sew, knit and make useful things out of recycled cardboard boxes. I have made many things for my son. I love craft. I learnt how to knit from my grandmother who used to make amazing things.

When I lived in Colombia I didn’t have time to do these things. Now I can be a full time mother, study English and make the things I love.

• What would you like to do in your free time?
• Do you have any handy skills that you learned from other people, a family member or a friend?
• As we increasingly use technology, what is the value of handiwork for adults and children?

Why not share your thoughts below?

Hard of hearing! DL makes it easy

Sahina - DL Student

Sahina comes from Indonesia and she has been Deaf all her life. When she was a child she went to a school for the Deaf and learnt Indonesian Sign language.  Her husband is also Deaf.  He graduated with a Bachelor  of Science (Internet Computing) but at the moment works full time at Coles and also sells things on eBay.  They have one beautiful child and live in Western Australia.  They were looking for sign classes for Sahina to learn both Australian Sign language and English.  She was referred to our Navitas Distance Learning office in Perth who tried to find the right teacher for Sahina.  Fortunately we were able to find her just the right teacher from Bankstown college in Sydney.

Ruth - DL Teacher

DL Teacher Ruth is fluent in Auslan (Australian Sign language) and has years of experience teaching English and Sign language to Deaf and Hearing Impaired Students. Her skills have been put to good use as she was able to assist Sahina via Skype.

Ruth says "This is the right program for Sahina and Your Call online covers topics for everyday living.  Through Skype we are able to role play, screen share to show images, use the Skype Chats to write sentences and practise Sign language.  Sahina is really keen and very clever.  She's improving quickly."

Congratulations to both Sahina and Ruth on overcoming the barriers of hearing, distance and language all at once and best wishes to Sahina for a bright future in Australia.

How are you overcoming barriers to your own learning?

My grandmother is my inspiration

Professor Dr. Suvajara
 Vajarasathira

Following the celebration of the International Women's Day last week we received this inspirational story from Ninn, one of our DL students.

Professor Dr. Suvajara Vajarasathira is my grandmother, I call her “Koon Ya” (Grandma) in Thai.  She was born in 1924 in Bangkok. She was an excellent student who topped her class in Thailand.  She won a KINGS scholarship, being in the top 5% of her final year at University. She graduated with a Masters Degree in Medicine from Mahidol University and then went on to study in New Orleans, America. 

In the 1950’s not many Thai women got to study in university. In Thai culture we thought girls didn't need an education because they would get married and become housewives.  It was very hard for women to get the scholarship and study overseas. Grandma was a trailblazer in Thailand, being only 1 of 3 girls in her field of medicine, and the only girl to receive a KINGS scholarship to study in America. 

In America she faced prejudice and discrimination from people, classmates and teachers. The other problem was because she was a very pretty girl a lot of men spoke amorously to her. However, the other 4 doctors doing the same scholarship looked after her and treated her like a younger sister. She graduated with a Doctoral degree in Medicine and finished her 5 year internship in an American hospital in Chicago.

After she came back to Thailand she went to visit her fiancé, but America was too far and she was gone for too long. He had married another girl. As a requirement, to pay back her scholarship she worked her state job as a Doctor in the countryside of Thailand. This made forgetting about her ex-fiancé easier.               

               

She worked in the countryside of Thailand for about 3-4 years. When Mahidol University started the “Faculty of Tropical Medicine” she was selected to come back to Bangkok to set it up in 1960.  As a researcher and lecturer, she travelled to many overseas countries. My greatest delight was when she brought home souvenirs for me.  But this meant I had to have been well-behaved and done well in school. The Japanese chocolate was my favourite. She was a working and practising doctor until she was 70 years old.

                

Koon Ya is 91 years old this year and although her body may be failing her mind is still very sharp. She is a great person who in her 50 years’ service to Thailand has given up much and helped many people. That is why I feel proud and privileged to help support her now.

Thanks to Ninn for sharing this wonderful story about a remarkable woman!

• Do you have someone in your family or your culture that you consider a "trailblazer"?  In what way?
• A lot has changed for women of this generation. What has changed and are the challenges the same?

Why not share a comment on the story or the discussion questions here!

Changing careers

Yining, Navitas, Perth

I graduated from University of Shanghai, China, in the field of Science and Technology in 2002. I worked for an automotive components company as an Engineer for more than ten years. 

I came to Australia with my family in January 2014 and settled in Perth, Western Australia. At first I tried to send out my resume to many different places to find a job in my field of study as an Engineer. But all I received was rejection letters. 

When I started my Distance Learning AMEP course in June 2014, my DL teacher, Bernadette, chose the theme of Work from Your Call.  I learned how to write a good cover letter and rewrote my resume according to the Australian standards. We also practised job interview questions during class.

My DL teacher also put me in touch with the DL Pathways Advisor, Jennifer, who arranged an interview for me with the Challenger Institute.  I knew I had to change careers so I wanted to find out the best future study option.  They advised me to enrol in Certificate III in Sterilisation because there is a huge demand for new technicians.

After my English improved and I completed the Sterilisation course I sent out my new resume.  I was offered 3 interviews in hospitals and got my first job in a private hospital in Perth in December 2014. I am very happy and I feel I belong in Australia.

I am very lucky that I could study English with DL in Navitas.  I consider my DL teacher, Bernadette, to be my mentor who is guiding my new life in Australia.  I really appreciated the fact that she had a similar experience many years ago and she is willing to share her failure and success stories to encourage me.

Congratulations Yining on your first job in Australia.  We are pleased your DL teacher and Pathways Advisor were able to put you on the right path.

• How do you feel about changing careers?
• The average person changes careers 5-7 times. What do you think are the reasons?
• Have you changed careers yourself?  Why? What were the challenges and the benefits?

Check out the Pathways tab for more information on changing careers.

Why not add a comment below!

Haroon prefers to learn by distance

Haroon and family

I come from Pakistan. I completed my Master's degree in Finance in 2000 in Pakistan and worked in different positions in accounting. I got married in 2008 and I now have two girls. When I arrived here, I did not have any communication skills because English is my second language. So I decided to enroll in the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) to improve my English and get Certificate III in Spoken and Written English.

I have been studying with DL for ten months. Now, I feel more confident when I speak English and I'm improving everyday.  I found that studying by distance is more convenient and flexible.  If I have an emergency I can reschedule my lesson so I don't miss any lessons.  In addition, it saves me time and money because I don't have to travel to classes.

My teacher Nada concentrates on my needs and weaknesses and teaches me the Australian culture. She tries to improve my employability skills and provides me with good tips for finding an appropriate job.  She also sends me a lot of video links after the lesson which help reinforce what I have learned and learn new things as well. There are a lot of e-books on the AMEP DL website which are very helpful.

I am very pleased with my DL experience as I think it is one of the best ways to help me improve my English language faster and it suits my circumstances. 

• How can you get the most out of your DL lessons?
• What are Employability Skills?  Check this link to see which ones you have and which ones you need.

My stolen dog

Vy, DL Student, Cabramatta

Hi everyone! I’m Vy and I am 22.  I come from Vietnam and have been in Australia for over two years. It was difficult at first for me to speak English with confidence so I started studying Distance Learning through Navitas College in Cabramatta. Thanks to my teacher, Frank, my English has improved over the past few months and I am starting to feel a bit more confident in English now. 

I’m now going to tell you a story about my dog!  I have a fluffy white dog and his name is Lucky. He’s nine years old and very intelligent. His responsibility in my family is catching mice in the house. After he catches a mouse, he runs around in circles and barks proudly.

He is the essence of my childhood. Every early morning, he would stand in the middle of the front door and wait for me to take him to the beach. He hates touching water but loves running around on the sand. He’s also my best friend. Whenever I feel sad, I talk with him and he looks me in the eyes. Probably he can understand my emotions. I love him so much.

One Sunday morning, I was washing my clothes in the backyard when I heard some loud shouting coming from my neighbours. Immediately, I went out to check what was wrong. I was shocked by what they said. They said my dog Lucky had just been stolen. There had been two men riding a motorbike. They had thrown a slip knot onto Lucky’s neck and by dragging him onto the street, had taken him away.

It was so terrible and cruel that I cried and shook with fright in the toilet. I was terrified and didn’t know what to do to get my dog Lucky back. In Viet Nam, there are a lot of bad people who steal dogs and cats for meat or for ransom. They steal someone’s pet and lock it up for a period of time. If the owner doesn’t pay a ransom for the pet they will sell the pet or kill it for meat. I was always worried about my dog Lucky.

All that morning, I cried. My Dad asked me to stop crying in the toilet. Then he went out. After the longest hour in my life, my Dad came home with Lucky. We had to pay 400 thousand VND to get him back. Lucky was badly injured. His eyes had changed to red. The skin of his bottom-paw was gone. His white hair was covered with dust and blood, but he wagged his tail happily and soon recovered!

Now I’m living far away from him and miss him so much!


Thanks Vy for sharing your beautifully moving story.  It is a great example of a narrative text.

• Have you ever had a pet that you had a special connection with?
• Why do people keep pets?
• What is the hardest thing about having a pet?

Share your comments below.

Traffic in the eye of a DL artist

'Falling Down' by Nancy, DL student, Hurstville college

My name is Nancy.  I used to study Fine Arts when I was at university. In the first 2 years of my studies I did a series of art work about the traffic problem in China.  I always thought the main problem that caused traffic jams was bad traffic facilities and imperfect traffic laws.  Later, however, I realised that the main problem could be people themselves.

Then I did an oil painting named Falling Down.  The size of the artwork is 100cm x 80cm which took me 3 weeks to finish . The picture describes a traffic accident. The black background of this painting makes the traffic accident seem like it happened at night. In the middle of the picture, many people jump off one side of an overloaded old grey truck which makes the trunk fall down soon.  As it shows in the picture, some of them have already fallen down on the ground.  Although you can`t see their faces you can imagine from their clothes that they could be some blue-collar workers, farmers or builders.

The main reason that I did this art work was to try and remind people of the importance of observing traffic rules.  I brushed the colour of the background very quickly and made the background rough and uneven everywhere to create the feeling of people being in a rush when you see it. I deliberately left people`s faces blank to show that the people in the picture could be any of us. Obviously, it is illegal for such a huge number of people to be on one truck, but it sometimes happens in China. Even though everyone knows that it`s very dangerous to jump off the truck, some will still do it.  However, the lame excuse that people use to explain why they don’t obey the traffic laws is that they are in a hurry. 

In my opinion, people who do not obey the traffic rules present the biggest traffic problem.

Congratulations to Nancy on such a wonderful and meaningful piece of art and thanks to her teacher Marina for sharing it.

This week is Road Rules Awareness Week in NSW.  What are the top 10 misunderstood road rules?  
Click here to watch the videos and learn about these rules.  

For discussion:

• Which rule do you need to learn more about?
• Nancy thinks that people's bad habits of breaking traffic rules contribute to accidents.  Do you agree that people have a big part to play in causing traffic problems and accidents?  Why/why not?
• What solutions could you suggest to solving traffic problems?

We'd love to hear your comments below.

Kim never gave up!

Kim, Navitas, Sydney City

Kim started his Distance Learning course two years ago.  He chose DL because he works full-time and DL allows him flexibility with his time schedule.

To Kim, he has come a long way as far as his English is concerned.  Kim never did any English courses before starting with AMEP DL. He learned to speak English only through talking to his customers at work.  So when he started the course his speaking was fairly functional but his objective was clear: to learn to read and write in English.

Nearly 6 months ago, Kim completed his Certificate of Spoken and Written English (CSWE) 1 and moved up to level 2.  He is now able to read texts with around 300 words from Your Call level 2. “I am thrilled by what I have achieved with my reading and writing” Kim says.

Kim is dedicated to his learning even though the whole journey has not been easy.  “I could have given up a number of times” Kim comments.

Kim and his wife migrated to Australia in 2013 and they both are working long hours. Kim is working in a restaurant as a chef and, sometimes by the time he gets back home, he is exhausted to do anything.  Incredibly, he always overcomes barriers and gets himself ready 15 minutes before his lessons to do his spelling routine which has continued for the past two years throughout his DL course. Kim agrees that the individualised lessons and the extensive support definitely have pushed his boundary.

As Kim’s course is coming to an end, he acknowledges that where he completes the course is where he starts building his Australian dream with a strong sense of being confident and competent.  His DL teacher, Michelle, cannot be happier to see that this program has helped Kim achieve his goals.

Congratulations to Kim and well done for working hard and staying focussed on your goals.  

• What barriers are there to learning English and how can you overcome them?
• What routines can help you improve your reading and writing?
• What helps you keep going if you feel you want to give up?

Why not leave your comments below!

Courage to speak in public with Toastmasters

Katia, DL student

When I started my Distance Learning English course with Navitas I was feeling depressed. My English was not improving as I would have liked. So I did not believe in myself to look for a job. In my first lesson my DL teacher Barbara encouraged me to join a Toastmasters Club. Toastmasters is an educational organisation which helps members improve their public speaking and leadership skills. In the beginning I struggled to have the courage to go. After the next lesson with my teacher I decided to go and it was amazing.

On my first day as a visitor I lacked confidence and felt nervous. I couldn't say any sentence that made sense. However the members were very supportive and encouraged me to keep going. I trusted them because I felt they believed in me and welcomed me to their meetings.

After the third meeting I felt confident to do my first speech which is called an Ice Breaker. The goal of this speech is to introduce yourself to the members giving them information about your background, interests and ambitions.

I stood in front of an audience of 17 people. People who were just like me, who come to Toastmasters to improve themselves. Then I realized that other people also speak with different accents and make grammar mistakes, but they come to Toastmasters because there's an opportunity to speak to people and make friends.I feel proud of myself for starting something new which is helping me to be not just a positive, confident speaker but an assertive and self-assured person.

Congratulations Katia for starting something new to help yourself.You can find details of your local Toastmasters club at http://www.d70toastmasters.org.au/
Do you belong to a club or organisation? 
How has joining a club helped you to improve your English? 

A rare visit by an ex-student

Karen and her ex-student, AJ

AJ joined the AMEP Distance Learning program in 2013.  He was living in Canberra at the time and working initially as a Security Guard for shopping centres then was promoted to Security Manager.  As part of his position he needed to write security reports to management and formal emails to the Police.  His teacher, Karen, tailored the lessons to his needs.  They were focussed on the skill of writing reports appropriate to his work and writing instructions to staff such as evacuation procedures.

AJ completed Certificate 3 successfully with Navitas DL in 2014 when he was still living in Canberra.   He has since moved to Sydney but has not forgotten his DL teacher whom he calls "his mentor".  Even though he finished his course last year he contacted Karen and came to visit our offices in Sydney.  It is a rare occasion when the DL team get to meet their students face-to-face, so AJ was very welcome.

When asked what was the best thing about learning with DL he said "My teacher Karen understood what I needed to learn.  She assisted me with the language skills that were useful for my work.  She was my first mentor in Australia and I will always remember that."

AJ's future plan is to join the Police force.  His aim is to complete an English for Academic Purposes course then do a degree in policing.  We wish AJ all the best for his future career in Australia.

If you're not from Sydney and happen to be here, why not drop in and visit our offices in Bankstown!  It is always a pleasure to meet our Distance Learning students in person. 

Is the Distance Learning program helping you achieve your goals?  Why not share your story or write your comments below or in the Feedback section?

Silvy gets her first job in Australia

Silvy - DL Student

My name is Silvy and I live in South Australia. I started Distance Learning in February 2015.  I noticed that after a few months there was some significant improvement to my English and to my confidence in communicating with other people.

My teacher, Ziba, was very supportive of my plans to find a job.  She taught me how to write an impressive resume and covering letters and suggested some companies for me to apply for.  One of them was a big supermarket chain.  I wasn't sure at the time about applying to work for this company as I have had no experience in retail but she kept encouraging me.

I ended up applying to work for this supermarket.  Days gone by and finally I got an invitation for a group interview.  Ziba gave me some great advice about common questions, dress code and body language.  The preparation helped me boost my confidence and my knowledge.  To my surprise not only was I offered a job but a supervisory role although I had no supervisory experience.

This was an amazing experience for me. I am so grateful that I had a teacher who was able to help me throughout the job hunting process.  She motivated me and believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself.  I'm looking forward to the new challenges ahead.

Congratulations Silvy and best wishes in your new role.  

Did you know Woolworths have 190,000 employees, 144 new starters every day and currently 750 job vacancies!  

If you'd like to work for a supermarket chain like Silvy you can check their job vacancies online.  
Woolworths Careers
Coles Careers

If you need assistance with job search skills talk to you teacher.  We offer 2 sessions of interview practice sessions with a specialised teacher.