Are you hosting a refugee or asylum seeker in your home? We can help you communicate with them, no matter what their English level is. Join our course 'How To Speak in Clear and Simple English to the Refugee in Your Home.' We are waiving our fee in light of the Ukrainian crisis.
Are you opening your home to refugees? Good for you, you are amazing. Do you know how good your guest is at speaking English? Are you worried that you won't be able to understand each other? I'm a communication trainer and former English teacher, and I train people to modify their speech so that people with a low to intermediate English level can understand them. In other words, I train people to unlock their English (we are called English Unlocked.)
How we can help
The person in your home is going to feel vulnerable. The last thing they want is to see your lips moving and have no idea what you're saying. Even if their English level is quite low, I can help you speak in a way that's easier for them to understand. If their English level is fairly good, they might still struggle to understand you. Anxiety and trauma can impede cognition, plus you might have an unfamiliar accent or just speak more quickly than they can handle.
Similar to my usual training.
If you click below you'll learn more about the training I provide. This version will last 90 minutes. You will-
Find out how it feels to try and understand a foreign language
Learn 15 tips which will make your speech easier to understand
Learn to slow down but without sounding patronising
Get chance to practice
Free of charge (or almost.)
Training of this kind normally costs £60 per person but in view of the Ukrainian crisis I'm waiving my fee. However, experience has taught me that when people grab a free ticket for an event, only half of them show up. In order to avoid this scenario, I'm requesting that all attendees make a donation (£1 is plenty! You are already doing enough). These donations will go to the West End Refugee Service.
"I went from totally unconfident about dealing with non English speakers to confident that I could make myself understood." Steve Haley
Eligibility
Everyone who is hosting refugees in their home will be eligible, no matter where the refugees are from.
The course will be limited to people who actually have a guest (a named person) on their way to the UK/ already arrived. This isn't for people who are toying with the idea of hosting someone/ want to do so in the future. There will be an eligibility check.
The people who benefit most from this course are native English speakers.
The whole family (kids included) can attend this course. I'll leave it to you to judge if your kids are mature enough to understand.
When is it?
The first training course will be on Tuesday 5th April, 6pm-7.30pm. Click on the button below to visit Eventbrite and get your ticket. If you're reading this too late, click on the link anyway. So long as there is demand I'll keep running this course and any new courses will be listed there.
Please help spread the word
Please share this information everywhere you can think of. Download the PDF at the bottom of this article and share it with other hosts. You could spread the word on-
Facebook groups
WhatsApp groups for hosts
Post about it on LinkedIn and tag me (this is my LinkedIn profile)
Training for groups
Take a look at our home page to find out about all the courses we run. If you would like to find out about our bespoke courses for your organisation send me an email and I'll let you know our prices.