How to Help Non-literate Refugees to Navigate Life

This unique course is for people who support refugees.

Not all refugees are fully literate. Some were too busy fleeing conflict to learn to read or write. Others grew up without any expectation that they would become literate.

How can you help them? Delivering your services the usual way may not work in these circumstances.

When clients can't read or write in their first language, they find it harder to act independently because-

• They can’t use the written word to retain info.
• They may not understand systems and how things work
• The UK is not set up for those who can’t read

How can you help your client to become more self sufficient in a world which assumes that everyone can read?

About us

Shelley Purchon

I'm the founding director of English Unlocked. Our biggest selling workshop is How to Speak Simply to Learners of English. My previous career was teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. I taught English to people from around the world, some of whom could not read or write confidently in their own language.

Joshua Aspden

Joshua is a Refugee Resettlement Team Leader and an expert in Refugee and Migrant Personal Finance. In 2018 a refugee that he was supporting revealed that he could not read or write his first language. Joshua began to explore strategies to help this young man become more self-sufficient, strategies he shares in this unique course.

By the end of this training session you will-

1. More confidently identify clients who can't read or write confidently (spot the warning signs)
2. Gain insights into the difficulties they face, how it feels, how their life is impacted.
3. Create a sensitive environment where a non-literate person trusts you enough to reveal their knowledge gaps.
4. Learn strategies for helping a client to access your services even though they can’t follow a written to-do list in their own language, and help them become more self-sufficient.
5. Where to find visual resources.
6. How can technology help? Five apps to help your client, if they have a smart phone.
7. Employability resources. Which roles can your client apply for with their current literacy level?
8. Support your client's learning-

• Understand how ESOL departments currently deal with non-literate students and where the gaps are.
• How to begin a conversation with the ESOL department- questions to ask.
• Tips and resources you can pass on to the ESOL teacher.

Nobody else does exactly what we do.

Find out about this and our other courses here-

www.englishunlocked.co.uk