National Adult Literacy Database

September 7, 2009

This week, we have a story from Oliver, British Columbia. The author, Karamjit Gill, moved to  Canada about four years ago from India. She is enrolled in classes at the Literacy Now Learning Centre in Oliver to improve her speaking skills and to further her education to get a good job.

Story

by Karamjit Gill

My name is Karamjit Gill. I arrived from India in Sept 2005 and started at the Learning Centre in December of the same year.

My goal was to improve my speaking skills and further my education to enable me to get a good job. I knew I would have to work hard to reach my goal.

My education in India helped prepare me for my reading and writing to some degree, but I still had a long way to go. My spoken English was the most difficult challenge for me.

Coming into the Learning Centre for the first time was a big step: just to step inside the door was frightening.

The first course I took was Social Studies 11. This was a very large hurdle to get through because it would take me longer than normal. I had to reread the material several times to learn about Canada since I did not have any background. Plus the vocabulary was a challenge.

With much patience, I finally finished social studies with a B+ and I was able to write the provincial exam. At this point, I felt that I was really working towards my goal. I gained much self-confidence and I knew I could succeed and receive my Adult Dogwood Diploma.

[This story was taken with permission, from The Buzz on Literacy, July 2009, a newsletter published by Literacy Now, South Okanagan-Similkameen.]