Najia has five children and has never worked outside of the home. Lacking confidence in her English speaking, Najia joined the GRoW Programme in December to find out how she could get ready for work.
Najia said “I have been in the UK for 15 years but I have not worked before and I don’t get the chance to communicate with English speaking people very often and instead speak in my own language which is Dary. I went to Uxbridge College in 2018 to study English Level 1 to try to improve my English speaking which helped but although I could understand other people’s English speaking well I have always been scared of my own pronunciation and I think I get it wrong. When I joined GRoW Programme they introduced me to the Daily Steps Programme and I have been doing the course since January. I practice their audio lessons when I am at home alone and it has improved my English pronunciation. I can speak very fluently now and understand what people are saying to me more. I would highly recommend Daily Step and I am very thankful to the team that has put all of this together.
I have been very active with all of the opportunities GRoW has introduced me to since I joined them three months ago. Before I joined GRoW my mindset was very negative and I thought I had no future and would stay as a housewife forever. After I joined and took part in the Coffee Mornings I felt very determined and confident when speaking about my opinions and talking about other people’s ideas. It also has really boosted my self esteem.
They have helped me build my confidence and I feel very different now as I never really did anything for myself before.
I have been attending the GRoW CV Workshop with Sonia who is helping me develop my CV and the next step for me will be to try to work towards getting a job working in a school which is what I really want to do. I want to work with young children and I have spoken with the headteacher at my children’s school to find out about any volunteering opportunities that might come up.
I love attending the GRoW Coffee Mornings every week as it is a great opportunity to speak with other people. I like to hear what they have to say and everyone is so kind and willing to help me.”