Amazing news story about ENGin volunteer & Redditor Sam Aldershof. From the ENGin team in Ukraine, a huge THANK YOU to our Redditor volunteers. You are changing Ukrainians’ lives through just 1 hour of videochat a week!

by Temporary-Cut313

5 comments

  3. To those who wish to make a contribution, but have no other meaningful way (or wish to contribute additionally, or in a more personal way), I really recommend it.

    I’ve built strong relationships with 3 different people, helping all of them structure their thoughts through personal difficulties they’ve faced, whilst seeing an enormous improvement in their ability to use English.

    Seeing people develop, from not understanding slowly pronounced sentences at first, to just four months later, more or less understanding me at full flow (okay, with a reduction in regional idioms, but that’s expected). It’s incredible to see.

    I had a lot of experience working with non-native speakers in the past, so it greatly appealed to me, but I recommend it to anyone. Just keep in mind you will need to simplify your vocabulary and sentence structure if you want to have a flowing conversation.

    Of my three people, one received a promotion at work due to their new English level, and another managed to get a remote job at a Western company (doubling their salary). This was achieved through a CV rewrite and interview advice and practice. You make a huge difference.

    The third person I spoke to, whilst her enhanced English level hasn’t helped her at work directly, I’ve been able to use my own industry/business experience to directly guide her (in English!) into how to negotiate successfully for better pay and conditions (she works in Lviv), she got a 50% pay rise *and* a reduction in days worked! A wonderful result.

    Furthermore, I’ve met two of my three people in person by travelling to Warsaw to meet them, and hopefully at least one of those two (with her friends) will be coming to stay with me for a week in the UK next year. Fingers crossed, just a shame about the visa pains.

    I’m an extrovert, I accept that, but you don’t need to be, you just need to be able to have a conversation, and anyone can do that.

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