I’m Catherine from the Philippines, who migrated to Canada in 2002. It is my great pleasure to be a part of the P.A.L.S. Literacy for English Language Learners Program.
I have been working at the Y.M.C.A. for almost three years as a Transitional Housing Worker. Back home, in the Philippines, I was a Social Work Practitioner for more than 14 years.
I came to Canada for a better life, but living in a country where culture, language and climate is very different was a huge transition for me. Therefore, it has been really difficult to adjust. Nevertheless, I was able to overcome everything because there are people, and organizations like P.A.L.S willing to help improve our lives and help us to become productive individuals.
I came to know about P.A.L.S. in December 2010 through a colleague. He told me that P.A.L.S. offers an Adult LELL program, so I grabbed the opportunity to register. My tutor, Shaelah Riddell has helped me to improve my communication skills immensely. Shaelah has been generous with her time and very patient with me. She has helped me to write business letters and memos and become efficient in writing reports.
Shaelah has also helped me with computer skills and generally improved my written and oral English expression. I feel very confident now; writing incident reports and case studies comes easily to me.
I would also like to thank Michael Raven, my computer instructor at P.A.L.S. Michael taught me the MS word program that I use every day at work. I am really appreciative of his patient tutoring in computers.
My former supervisor and my sister have noticed significant improvements in my communication skills. I prepared a farewell speech for my supervisor when she left for another job, and everyone was impressed by my writing and presentation skills.
I realize that improving my English through P.A.L.S. has given me confidence, and I am exploring more career options, and I am becoming aware of other employment and educational opportunities open to me.
By sharing my experience in this presentation, I salute P A.L.S. for their excellent LELL program that has made a difference to my life, and helped me become a contributing member of society so I do not feel like a stranger in Edmonton. Kudos and more power to the staff at P.A.L.S.
Thank you.