North West College offers free English Language classes for newcomers to the Battlefords starting in September. (submitted photo/North West College)

By Angela Brown

Support for newcomers

North West College helps newcomers get a head start with free English classes

Aug 7, 2019 | 2:18 PM

New immigrants trying to adapt to their new home in the Battlefords can get some help with their A,B,C’s starting this fall through North West College’s free English Language for Newcomers classes.

The college is encouraging adults to register to take advantage of the lessons that can help them achieve some of their goals while they start to settle in Saskatchewan.

“EAL students are always welcome,” Jeanna Walker, part of the English As An Additional Language (EAL) team at NWC, said. “We offer from beginner to intermediate-level classes.”

The program helps students improve their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills.

“Everything is encompassed with that – grammar, even resume writing – it is all included,” Walker said.

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The program that is sponsored by the provincial and federal governments starts in September and runs until May.

“It could be something so simple as going to the grocery store or ordering a pizza on the phone,” Walker said. “Small tasks like that can seem daunting to them. So we encourage them to come up with a goal, and we’ll help work towards getting them to achieve it.”

The classes can also help newcomers be better prepared if they are hoping to apply for their Canadian citizenship.

“Some of their employers send them to us; some of them come to us first before finding work, and a lot of them are referred by friends and family,” Walker said.

Students will receive a certificate of achievement when they complete the program.

The college has helped many newcomers over the years the classes has been offered, Walker said.

The program runs Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. or 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Battlefords Campus. Classes start the week of Sept. 9.

If newcomers arrive in Canada later in the year, they can also join the program then, so they don’t miss out.

Walker said the college often will liaise with the Battlefords Immigration Resource Centre to help newcomers get started in English language classes and find out how to access services for their families.

“A lot of newcomers come into North Battleford not knowing where to start,” she said. “We are a good place to start.”

North West College also offers more informal English conversation and circle classes at a number of rural locations including Meadow Lake.

“It’s a place they can come, meet one another and their instructor, and gain some English conversation skills, at their own pace,” Walker said.

The college also offers online language classes for students who already know some basic English.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow