Refugee Women's Center
English Learning Program
Conversations with Refugees
Refugee Women's Center
English Learning Program
Conversations with Refugees
Welcome to the English Conversation Program
We believe language is a pathway to empowerment. By meeting refugees where they are and developing meaningful conversational English, we equip them to confidently advocate for themselves, their families, and their futures.
Conversations and lessons are student-driven and based on individualized instruction, rather than a structured curriculum.
Our priority is to provide flexibility in order to address each student’s specific needs.
Instruction is designed to model language use, rather than focus on formal grammar instruction.
Tutor and learner decide the arranements to meet: time, day, in person or online
This website will house resources for tutors to explore.
Suggestions for tutors :
Use What's APP for text messaging - send a confirmation reminder prior to your meeting time to confirm .
If using google meet or zoom - you can use the same link each time - ask learner if they would like link emailed , texted or What's APP. You could send out link with your confirmation message.
Have your student keep a notebook - to write down new words, phrases etc.
Keep short notes of what you did each lesson - so you can review at the start of the next lesson
It's ok to give homework, ie send a link of a video to watch again. Have them practice writing words or sentences .
If you are interested in becoming a tutor CLICK here
Videos for tutors :
How to use What App - 1 min video or How to use What’s APP 10 min video - need to add your learner to your contact list first ( this is the primary APP that many refugees use )
How to Share Screen on Google Meet (Beginner-Friendly Tips & Tricks)
Important things for learners to know
For Beginners :
Very Basic English Lesson (30–45 minutes)
For Intermediates ( grammar and reading multi syllabe words )
Common English Homophones
Steps for decoding multi syllable words - 18 mins video ,
stop after each of the 7 syllable types and practice reading words with that pattern
Videos
Introduction to US Money - 5mins
American Money - 15 mins
Basic English Grammar Explained - 8 mins , verbs, nouns, adjectives , prepositions
If you have a beginner speaker, you can use the videos to practice listening and speaking skills. If your speaker is a little more advanced, you can move on to using it for reading, spelling, and punctuation. I play a page and then hit pause to review what we are working on.
Anna English videos https://www.youtube.com/@AnnaEnglishChannel/videos
This link will give you some basic words for your learner to learn to read and then spell when he or she is at that level.:
https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/writing/articles/basic-spelling-vocabulary-list
Resources in Dari and Arabic
Simple step by step directions Teaching Dari learners how to use Google Meet - in Dari - open document and copy directions in an email to your student prior to your lesson
Teaching Resources