'My language course helped me launch my life in the UK'

After arriving in Bradford from Iraq, Hareth Alshaban was looking for a way to improve his English and launch his new life in the UK.

The 24-year-old's time on the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course was so successful that he ended up performing the lead role in a production of Romeo and Juliet, and he is now a youth worker.

ESOL programmes are aimed at those who have some grasp of English, but want to improve their speaking and listening skills, reading and writing, and understanding of regional accents.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority is investing in training new ESOL teachers as a way to improve inclusion and social cohesion, and demand is increasing.

Alshaban, who is originally from Palestine, said he travelled "unwillingly" through Syria, Jordan, and Turkey before landing in Cyprus, where he stayed for a couple of years before returning to Iraq.

He remained there until 2018, but was then resettled in Bradford as part of a UN programme.

Alshaban could speak English "quite well" when he arrived, but found there was a "bit of a struggle with understanding the accent" and "the culture was different from what I was used to".

"I was of told it was one of the first steps to developing in this country," he said.

"I didn't really understand why I had to take it to begin with as I already spoke English, but I honestly have taken quite a lot out of it."

He ended up reading Shakespeare's works as part of the course and becoming a youth advisory board member for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He eventually graduated in politics and international relations from Liverpool Hope University.

More than 50,000 people in West Yorkshire either can't speak English or can't speak it well, according to the authority, with 53% of them living in some of the most deprived areas.

ESOL enrolments have increased from 4,500 in 2020-1 to 8,000 this year. Bradford College hosts some of the sessions.

"It's the first touch point that our new arrivals to the country actually have with education and allows them to remove the language barriers," said Alina Khan, vice principal for equality, diversity and inclusion.

"Many of our ESOL students are highly skilled professionals and the only thing that's stopping them from getting to highly skilled employment is the English language, so it's absolutely essential."

Speaking on a visit to the college, mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said new "skills bootcamps" would help to train more ESOL teachers.

"Too many people are too far away from work, and all they need is a helping hand," she says.

"If we can help them, then we can grow our economy. We help businesses, they can recruit, and of course we then help some of our most deprived communities with very high levels of people who can't speak English."

However, Greater Lincolnshire's mayor, Andrea Jenkyns, has reduced funding for English language classes from next year, with exceptions for migrants with Hong Kong visas and Ukrainian refugees.

She said the money would be reallocated to improve literacy across the county, but opponents claimed the move would increase division.

"Under the last government, you had to have been in the country for two years before you started getting free adult education. But Labour has now changed that and I think that's wrong," she said.

"There's so many apps now, everybody who comes over has free apps to learn languages and when we've got our own issues - 200,000 adults in Lincolnshire are illiterate - we've got to give these people a chance too and that's what I'm doing."

Jenkyns added she was "repurposing" college funding and had given course providers "plenty of notice".

Amanda Fernandes' journey to Bradford College began thousands of miles away in Brazil.

In 2018, driven by a desire for new opportunities and to learn English, she came to build a life in Yorkshire.

"I was so nervous about communication, even to ask for a lunch at McDonald's, I got so anxious, I couldn't do that.

"I had to face it, to study and try to improve."

She completed an ESOL course in 2019, gained GCSEs and is now working as a librarian at the college where she attended those early sessions.

The pupil has even become the teacher, as Fernandes, 38, runs reading groups which help other students to improve their English.

"With time and dedication I could use all the opportunities at the college to build up my English skills and my confidence to pay them back," she added.

For Alshaban, ESOL has enabled him to become a full part of the Bradford community.

"We have left our homes, jobs, and everything behind to go to different countries. We did that because we had to, and because we want to be part of the place that we came to."

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