ESOL OASIS Issue 6, June 2012

Diversity Award 2

Adult Learners‘

Week

3

Village Boy in

the City

4 & 5

Reduce, Recy-

cle, Reuse

6

Student Mentor-

ing

6

Diversity in Stu-

dent Population

7

Wedding Bells 7

Book Review 8

Inside this issue:

Page 1

Welcome to Issue 6 This is the last edition of Oasis

in this academic year, 2011-

2012 and we have a lot to cele-

brate.

Our students have been recog-

nised 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!

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 or-

gan) 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 elec-

trician, 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.

Students’ thoughts on the show:

―I really liked our visit to Shar-

manka, it was scary in the dark and

exciting. I want to take my all fam-

ily to visit Sharmanka because I was

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 unforget-

table.‖ (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 re-

minded me of a bad memory in my life

and some of the worst dictators in the

world. I will recommend Sharmanka to

all my friends and also I will take my

girlfriend there.‖ (Dana Faraj)

Sharmanka:103 Trongate,

Glasgow, G1 5HD

T: 0141 552 7080,

E: info@sharmanka.com

Page 2

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 Lan-

guages and ESOL. Badradeen‘s

entry, ‗Poetry—Sitting on the Ru-

ins of Memories‘ was selected as

the winner from 8 entries for our

school.

Other notable entries were the In-

termediate 2 afternoon class‘s

‗Glasgow to NYC‘ blog, a student

blog where students from our col-

lege communicate ideas and stories

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 Oa-

sis)

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 re-

flecting on their experiences of liv-

ing in Glasgow.

Forest Pitch update As we told you in edition 5 of Oasis,

Forest Pitch is a unique event cele-

brating 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 cur-

rently living in Scotland.

The tournament will take place

on 21st July on a football pitch

hidden deep within a forest

near Selkirk in the Scottish

borders.

The tournament will showcase the

rich cultural diversity within the Scot-

tish community in the lead up to the

Olympic Games this summer.

We are delighted to announce that our

ESOL students,

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,

Ayelech Tfera Agos and

Meixing Li

Have all registered interest in the ladies

team, but this is not confirmed as yet.

It‘s too late for any other players to reg-

ister, but if you are interested in sup-

porting 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.

Badradeen accepting

his award from Peter

Midgley, Curriculum

Director, Learning and

Teaching

Page 3

ESOL OASIS You may already know, but

Sadia recently won a prestig-

ious award for her contribu-

tions to the college and her

community by receiving an

award for outstanding achieve-

ment at Adult Learners‘ Week.

Sadia was one of only 8 win-

ners from 350 nominees to re-

ceive 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 Eng-

lish.

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 go-

ing to integrate with the com-

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 pro-

vided.

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 al-

ways, are very welcome.

See you then!

Sadia Shariff, prizewinner, Adult Learners’ Week

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 wel-

come 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 stu-

dents 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.

ESOL OASIS

Page 4

Village Boy in the City by Badradeen Mohammed, Intermediate 2

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 curi-

ous 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

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 pri-

mary Schools, one for boys and an-

other for girls. People used to go to

the cities around for Secondary

School. Just imagine a student

comes to the class wearing a tradi-

tional 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 com-

plaint even I believed he was really

silly.

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.

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 in-

troduced him on his first day as

he came from a small Village in

somewhere in the middle of Su-

dan , 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 sec-

ond day, oh boy, it was the funni-

est 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 be-

cause they think students' brains

are fresh in the morning. I hated

maths because of that teacher if

ESOL OASIS

Page 5

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 cor-

ner 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 alik-

oum‖, damn it, I couldn't even re-

play.

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 read-

ing 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‖.

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

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 under-

stood 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 intelli-

gent 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 newspa-

per.

―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, some-

times..........., and I am happy for be-

ing the person I am‖ he added.

I was really shocked and I felt stu-

pid, 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??

―I mean whatever

they say won't

change me, I

know myself very

well, sometimes

silly, some-

times..... and I am

happy for being

the person I am‖

Khartoum is the capi-

tal city of Sudan, in

north-east Africa

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 sustain-

able source of vegetation and herbs

that can be used by our students in

their own kitchens. Rocket seeds

were donated by Scotland‘s Learn-

ing Partnership in support of Adult

Learners‘ Week, and these seeds

were planted in window-boxes in

the classrooms.

Page 6

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 volun-

teering experience in a classroom

environment and lower level stu-

dents the opportunity to be men-

tored by these inspiring role-

models. 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 learn-

ing 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.

The classes involved were Linnea‘s

Access 2 Stage 3 morning class,

Susie, Christine and Melissa‘s Ac-

cess 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 stu-

dents to provide cooking

herbs that can be used by the college.

ESOL OASIS

Page 7

Jolanta Serwa, Higher AM

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 coun-

tries with very lit-

tle immigration, so

here in the college

they have a new

opportunity to

make new friend-

ships, 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, al-

though only two of them to

each other!

Michael Orr and Bryony

Russell are to be married

on Saturday, 2nd June on

the beautiful islands of

Orkney.

Another teacher, Anna close, is to

marry her fiancé, Chris, on the 7th

July. Anna is going back to her

hometown of Larne, Northern Ire-

land, for the celebration.

Finally, Gianni is to marry his fi-

ancée, Nicola, in the October

week. Best wishes to all!

.Diversity in a

Student Population

Have you ever thought what

would the world be like if every-

one was the same? How would

you feel if you walked down the

street and passed people who

looked like you? Could you imag-

ine that situation? If

yes, you probably

have a terrible feel-

ing about that. But

we don‘t have to

worry – we are all

different like every-

thing 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, eth-

nic or cultural identity, different

social or economic backgrounds,

―Many students

come from countries

with very little im-

migration, so here in

the college they

have a new opportu-

nity to make new

friendships, to learn

about new cultures,

new countries and

new histories.‖

ESOL OASIS

Page 8

Book Review by Joan Marquez, Intermediate 2 Pm

"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 insan-

ity. It is a personal experience.

And I read it because I was curi-

ous to know why she decides

suicide.

The book is about the experi-

ence of a young

girl, who believes

she is not happy

and decides to kill

herself. The story

follows the rela-

tionship between

Veronika and Edu-

ardo. At the begin-

ning of the book

she thinks that she

has lived all

that you can live

and she decides to

end her life by taking an over-

dose 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 mo-

ment, but all the treat-

ments given by the doctor are

wrong, he decides to treat her

with substance vitriol, for this

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 hap-

pened 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 Ve-

ronika 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.

Caption Competition!

Alex and Daniyel are having

fun on their trip to Sharmanka,

but what is happening here?

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.