esol oasis - City of Glasgow College

ESOL OASIS
Issue 6, June 2012
Welcome to Issue 6
Inside this issue:
Diversity Award 2
This is the last edition of Oasis
in this academic year, 20112012 and we have a lot to celebrate.
Our students have been recognised for their fantastic
achievements throughout the
year, and in the following pages,
you‘ll find out just what they are.
Well done everyone and see you
next year!
Adult Learners‘ 3
Week
Village Boy in
the City
4&5
Reduce, Recycle, Reuse
6
Student Mentor- 6
ing
Diversity in Stu- 7
dent Population
Wedding Bells
7
Book Review
8
Sharmanka
Catrina’s Access 3 Am; Access 2,
Stage 1 Pm and Steven’s Access 3
Pm all visited an exhibition called
Sharmanka. Here‘s what they found
Out:
Sharmanka (Russian for barrel organ) is a celebration between the
sculptor, Eduard Bersudsky and
his wife, theatre director Tatyana
Jakovskaya. It began in Russia in
1988. Eduard started carving when
he was 25 while working as an electrician, skippering a barge, and
working as a night guard and a
boiler man. In 1995 Sharmanka
moved to Glasgow and later became
a part of Trongate 103 in Glasgow.
impressed with the machines, each has
a different character.‖ AdilaHaya)
―I really enjoyed Sharmanka because
this exhibition was a very interesting,
emotional and incredible show. Each
machine tells its own story; some with
personal references and other were
more universal. This show is unforgettable.‖ (Agnieszka Skladanek)
―I really enjoyed it when I visited to
Sharmanka. I have never seen it before
and I was really, really exciting because
these machinse reminded me of lots of
things when I was a child. They are so
weird to me!!! We were a little scared
by the music and you felt you were in
the middle of a war and that also reminded me of a bad memory in my life
Students’ thoughts on the show:
―I really liked our visit to Sharand some of the worst dictators in the
Sharmanka:103 Trongate, manka, it was scary in the dark and world. I will recommend Sharmanka to
Glasgow, G1 5HD
exciting. I want to take my all fam- all my friends and also I will take my
T: 0141 552 7080,
ily to visit Sharmanka because I was girlfriend there.‖ (Dana Faraj)
E: info@sharmanka.com
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ESOL OASIS
Diversity Awards for ESOL
Badradeen Mohammed, of Jenifer‘s
Intermediate 2 afternoon class is
this year‘s winner of our Diversity
Award for the School of Languages and ESOL. Badradeen‘s
entry, ‗Poetry—Sitting on the Ruins of Memories‘ was selected as
the winner from 8 entries for our
school.
Other notable entries were the InBadradeen accepting termediate 2 afternoon class‘s
his award from Peter ‗Glasgow to NYC‘ blog, a student
Midgley, Curriculum blog where students from our colDirector, Learning and lege communicate ideas and stories
Teaching
with a college in Brooklyn, New
York; Reading the World Waves, a
collaborative project with the same
class and the Professional Writing
class, where students read their own
poetry and stories at the Scotia Bar,
Glasgow (featured in issue 5 of Oasis)
Recipe for Diversity, which explored
diversity through the unifying and
universal theme of food, and Tony‘s
Saturday Morning Writing Class,
‗Voices from Glasgow‘ - a collection
of personal stories from students reflecting on their experiences of living in Glasgow.
Forest Pitch update
As we told you in edition 5 of Oasis,
Forest Pitch is a unique event celebrating the combined vision of artist
Craig Coultard and the footballing
skills of men and women who have
recently become British citizens or
have been granted Indefinite
Leave to Remain, and are currently living in Scotland.
Mohammed Riyad,
Mustafa Ali Hussein Alhasnawy,
Muhammad Rehan,
Abdul al Qadir Ali and
Yousif Al- Kaabi
Will be part of the men’s team, and
Leyla Sharif,
The tournament will take place Ayelech Tfera Agos and
on 21st July on a football pitch Meixing Li
hidden deep within a forest
near Selkirk in the Scottish
Have all registered interest in the ladies
borders.
team, but this is not confirmed as yet.
The tournament will showcase the
rich cultural diversity within the Scottish community in the lead up to the
Olympic Games this summer.
We are delighted to announce that our
ESOL students,
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It‘s too late for any other players to register, but if you are interested in supporting your fellow students at the
event, you can visit the website,
www.forestpitch.org,
Or call Creative Scotland on Tel: 0330
333 2000 For more information about
the event.
ESOL OASIS
Sadia Shariff, prizewinner, Adult Learners’ Week
You may already know, but
Sadia recently won a prestigious award for her contributions to the college and her
community by receiving an
award for outstanding achievement at Adult Learners‘ Week.
Sadia was one of only 8 winners from 350 nominees to receive a prize.
Here is her story:
It was a difficult time for me
when I arrived in the UK, it
was 2001. I was alone and I
missed my family. I didn’t know
the streets, the accents were
hard and I couldn’t speak English.
I started in an ESOL beginner
class. I used to go in mornings
and afternoons and I was
speaking in broken English. I
said to myself, “How am I going to integrate with the com-
munity?” I started volunteering
for Cancer Research. I managed
to fill out the application form
because of what I had learned at
college.
I also asked one of the lecturers:
“Is it okay if we have a small
room for prayer?” Now we have
a prayer room and all are welcome to pray here.
I keep learning, and my English
helps people in lower-level
classes.
I though: some of the students
are young and homesick, we
need something to bring the students together. This is what the
Language Cafe is. It gives me a
lot of experience and I can give
a lot back to the community.
I’m studying at Intermediate 2
level now. Maybe next year I
will do Higher level, then after
that, university.
End of Year Exhibition
Student Exhibitions will
be displayed from 12pm on
Tuesday 12th to lunchtime on
Friday 15th June 2012.
The grand opening of the
exhibition will take place from
6pm to 8pm on Tuesday 12th
June, where there will be
snacks and refreshments provided.
Come along and see all the
exhibits not only from the ESOL
students, but from all the other
students studying at city of
Glasgow College.
Friends and family, as always, are very welcome.
See you then!
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ESOL OASIS
Village Boy in the City by Badradeen Mohammed, Intermediate 2
It was three months after the term
started when that guy joined my
class at Albian Secondary School
in Khartoum North, I saw him
many times around the School but
I didn't pay him any attention,
maybe because we were about
eighty students in one class and I
had lots of friends to spend time
with or maybe because I was
thinking about that pretty girl
Lannah all the time.
you want to know the truth, I never
saw him smiling except on that day,
he was always serious as hell, but
that morning when there was a
knock at the classroom door he
started laughing in a hysterical way
and we were all surprised and curious to know what was going on till
the new guy showed up, he was
wearing ―jalabia‖ it's the traditional
Sudanese dress for men and carrying
an old bag made from cloths with
Oh boy, she's very beautiful, you
won't know this, she has big and
charming eyes and a pretty smile
that makes you forget yourself
when you look at her. All the
boys in the School were trying to
get close to her but guess what? I
was the lucky one.
However, that guy was quite
funny in an unusual way, they introduced him on his first day as
he came from a small Village in
somewhere in the middle of Sudan , I don't remember where. He
seemed very happy and he was
looking at girls like an idiot, he
said he had never been in a class
with girls, as in his Village there
were no mixed Schools. Even in
Khartoum mixed Schools are all
private.
The real story started on his second day, oh boy, it was the funniest day ever, I laughed like a mad
man. The maths teacher was in
the class, maths used to be the
first subject in the morning because they think students' brains
are fresh in the morning. I hated
maths because of that teacher if
his books inside it, he said they were
allowed to wear whatever they
wanted in the primary School he
went to, because his Village is very
small and there were only two primary Schools, one for boys and another for girls. People used to go to
the cities around for Secondary
School. Just imagine a student
comes to the class wearing a traditional dress instead of the uniform!
Anyway, since then guys started to
make fun and jokes of him and he
was reacting like a silly boy, he was
laughing on the things they were
saying about him and he never complaint even I believed he was really
silly.
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ESOL OASIS
―I mean whatever
they say won't
change me, I
know myself very
well, sometimes
silly, sometimes..... and I am
happy for being
the person I am‖
Days passed and a few days after the
final exams, we were preparing to
leave School for the Summer, I was
reading a newspaper in a quiet corner in the School park after a cool
chat with beautiful Lannah, boy, you
don't know what happened to me
when I first met her!
My mind went blank, sweat dripped
from my forehead like a river, my
heart was beating like a drum and all
the words disappeared from my
tongue and I just smiled like an idiot
when she said to me ―alsalam o alikoum‖, damn it, I couldn't even replay.
Anyway, the guy stood in front of
me and said:
―salam o alikoum Badr‖.
―o alikoum alsalm‖, I said.
―Lucky you, you got the superstar of
the School‖, the guy said.
―Who do you mean‖? I asked.
―Of course Lannah‖, he replied.
I didn't say a word, I just kept reading my newspaper and all.
He kept silent for a while then said:
―my name is Ahmed if you don't
know and I am sure you don't‖.
Khartoum is the capital city of Sudan, in
north-east Africa
Oh boy, let me tell you the truth for
God sake, he was right, he really
was.
I wouldn't have remembered his
name if he hadn't told me, life in my
neighbourhood was open, people
used to speak to whoever spoke to
them and treat them like friends
even if they don't know them, and I
am sure I spoke with him many
times but you know that if people
aren't very close to you or don't play
Page 5
a big part in your life, you won't care
of their details and they might be
unmemorable.
All of a sudden, the guy was telling
me about his life and how he understood all guys in our class and how
guys misunderstood him and treated
him like a silly boy because he came
from a Village.
Only that day I realized how intelligent he was.
―Why don't you make fun of me like
the others do‖? He asked.
―Should I‖? I replied.
―No, but they seem happy and I
think they enjoy doing so‖. He said.
―Well, I know lots of funny things
that could make me laugh without
making fun or hurting someone‖ I
said and kept reading my newspaper.
―From the first time I met you, I
knew you were different‖ he said.
―Why do you let them treat you like
that‖? I asked.
―If that makes them happy, why not‖
he replied.
―I mean whatever they say won't
change me, I know myself very
well, sometimes silly, sometimes..........., and I am happy for being the person I am‖ he added.
I was really shocked and I felt stupid, if you want to know the truth.
The silly guy wasn't really silly, but
we were. And the most interesting
thing I was thinking about and I still
am is that, how did he understand all
those things about me while we
weren't friends or even close to each
other??
ESOL OASIS
Reduce, Recycle, Reuse
Inspired by the Guerilla Gardening
Project in the Gorbals, which was
part of the Festival of Learning, 4
ESOL classes have been taking part
in a Reduce, Recycle and Reuse
project.
This is aimed at creating a sustainable source of vegetation and herbs
that can be used by our students in
their own kitchens. Rocket seeds
were donated by Scotland‘s Learning Partnership in support of Adult
Learners‘ Week, and these seeds
were planted in window-boxes in
the classrooms.
The classes involved were Linnea‘s
Access 2 Stage 3 morning class,
Susie, Christine and Melissa‘s Access 3 morning class and Rosie and
Karen‘s afternoon Literacy
class.
The project is a pilot for a
larger project next year,
where, if successful, it will
expand further.
It is hoped that the herbs can
be grown in an allotment and
will be grown by ESOL students to provide cooking
herbs that can be used by the college.
Student Mentoring
A student mentoring scheme in our
ESOL department is proving a great
success with mentors, mentees and
lecturers. The scheme was set up to
give higher level ESOL students the
opportunity to gain valuable volunteering experience in a classroom
environment and lower level students the opportunity to be mentored by these inspiring rolemodels. Mentors assist lecturers in
classroom activities and provide
language support and guidance
about life in the UK to mentees.
These generous mentors, some of
whom have been teachers in their
native countries or hope to enter the
teaching profession in the future,
receive a volunteering award at the
end of the scheme. One example of
mentoring brilliance is El-Sayed El
Sabbagh, a former P.E teacher in
his native country Egypt who says,
―The mentoring scheme is helping me
develop my own teaching skills and I
enjoy giving my time to help others
experiencing the frustrations of learning a new language and adapting to a
new country that I felt when I first
came to the UK in 2004.‖ A very big
thank you goes out to our generous
ESOL mentoring volunteers!
The student mentors are:
El Sayed Elsabbagh
Sekou Louis Ouattara
Mehry Warmazyar
Ako Zada
Lobo Mingashanga
Natalia Gaki
The mentors received a volunteering
award at the end of year ESOL event
at the Bistro on 31 May.
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ESOL OASIS
Jolanta Serwa, Higher AM
.Diversity in a
Student Population
―Many students
come from countries
with very little immigration, so here in
the college they
have a new opportunity to make new
friendships, to learn
about new cultures,
new countries and
new histories.‖
Have you ever thought what
would the world be like if everyone was the same? How would
you feel if you walked down the
street and passed people who
looked like you? Could you imagine that situation? If
yes, you probably
have a terrible feeling about that. But
we don‘t have to
worry – we are all
different like everything in the world.
We can say that our
college is a piece of
the world.
In our college we
can meet people from the whole
world and diversity in the student
population is a very good thing.
They have different national, ethnic or cultural identity, different
social or economic backgrounds,
they grew up in countries with
completely different economics,
governments, flags and history.
You can have a good chat face to
face with people from different
countries and you don‘t need to go
far.
Many students come from countries with very little immigration, so
here in the college
they have a new
opportunity to
make new friendships, to learn
about new cultures,
new countries and
new histories. We
are lucky, because
we can experience
all these things not
from books or TV, but from each
other.
So what are you waiting for? Ask
the person next to you: ―Where are
you from?‖
Wedding Bells!
Four of our teachers are
soon to be married, although only two of them to
each other!
Another teacher, Anna close, is to
marry her fiancé, Chris, on the 7th
July. Anna is going back to her
hometown of Larne, Northern Ireland, for the celebration.
Michael Orr and Bryony
Russell are to be married Finally, Gianni is to marry his fion Saturday, 2nd June on ancée, Nicola, in the October
the beautiful islands of week. Best wishes to all!
Orkney.
Page 7
ESOL OASIS
Book Review by Joan Marquez, Intermediate 2 Pm
We’re on the City of
Glasgow College
website. Find us under
News and Events,
then ESOL Magazine
or contact Gerry at
gerry.gray@Cityof
GlasgowCollege.ac.
uk or on
0141 566 1691.
Caption Competition!
"Veronika decides to die" by
Paulo Coehlo, is a romantic
novel where the story of dreams
and fantasies, desire and death,
passion and especially of insanity. It is a personal experience.
And I read it because I was curious to know why she decides
suicide.
The book is about the experience of a young
girl, who believes
she is not happy
and decides to kill
herself. The story
follows the relationship between
Veronika and Eduardo. At the beginning of the book
she thinks that she
has lived all
that you can live
and she decides to
end her life by taking an overdose of painkillers because she
doesn't want to leave a bad
memory to her parents with her
death.
Then she wake up in a mental
hospital to find she has caused
irreversible damage to her heart
and could die at any moment, but all the treatments given by the doctor are
Alex and Daniyel are having
fun on their trip to Sharmanka, wrong, he decides to treat her
but what is happening here?
with substance vitriol, for this
Page 8
reason she began to feel weaker
every day. He thinks that she
would start fighting for her life
and achieve ultimate salvation.
At the end, Veronika escapes the
hospital with another patient.
She does various things, then
awakes at the top of a hill and
realizes that a miracle has happened because she still alive. At
this moment she understands the
meaning and purpose
at life, "love
was missing from her
life".
Throughout my life I
have met
many people who
feel the same
way that Veronika and I think at
some point in my
life I felt the
same. But this
book taught me to do everything
with love for life, family,
friends; everything in life has
meaning and worth.
English Language Readers
are available from the college
library. As you know, the library
in the Townhead Building has
closed. You can access these
readers from the North Hanover
Street Building, floor 1 of the
Millennium Building.