After I finished LELL school, I started to work. My English was still not good. I felt that I needed more practice, and that I still needed to improve my new language. My friend heard that in Edmonton there were a few organizations for newcomers, like Catholic Social Services, the Mennonite Center and P.A.L.S.
I decided to attend the LELL program at P.A.L.S. That was 8 years ago. After 2 years I asked for a tutor. Somebody called me from P.A.L.S. to arrange my first meeting with my tutor. I was very excited because I expected an older lady. I was very surprised when my tutor Mira came to P.A.L.S. I was happy when I saw a nice young woman with a smiling face!
Mira asked me what I needed to improve and my answer was ‘everything’— my grammar, my writing, my reading, pronunciation, and communication skills. At this time I started working at a new job and I needed to prepare for a medication test. She has always helped me when I asked her. She gives me courage and confidence.
I borrowed several books from the P.A.L.S. library. I started reading the stories and I was inspired to start writing the story from my life. I also use the computer to find lots of information for my homework. It used to be very stressful for me to speak with people on the phone. Practicing on the phone with my tutor has helped me relieve this stress.
My life is very busy but when I have time I like to attend the P.A.L.S. activities for students. I really like the P.A.L.S. events like the annual meeting and the Christmas party. The people who work at P.A.L.S. are very nice and always available. Thank you very much for everything!