I hope you enjoyed the holiday season and are ready to join us for the second half of the 2011/2012 English Language Services for Adults (ELSA) school year.
We are lucky to have this free program in Williams Lake. We are the only community in the Cariboo region to offer this service. In the Lower Mainland ELSA classes are so full that not everyone who wants to can get in. That is why it is so important to maintain a minimum of eight students in our classes, and why every student who is registered should attend class regularly. By maintaining our attendance, our ELSA funding is secure. By coming to Williams Lake and attending ELSA classes, new immigrants can get off to a great start in Canada.
The ELSA program does not just provide English instruction. We are a support group for new immigrants. Students learn about Canada’s culture, laws, history and geography so you can become citizens.
You find out how attitudes in Canada might differ from attitudes in your home country.
You learn from the experiences of your classmates.
You have access to support workers, who know about immigration laws and programs for immigrants.
Your success is our success.
If you are registered for ELSA class, you are expected to attend regularly.
There are a few reasons that we will accept for absences, but it is your responsibility to attend, if possible.
If you miss classes you lose that class time from the hours the government has allowed for you to attend free classes. Each year your language skills are re-assessed.
If your English continues to improve, you will be given more hours of free classes. If you do not attend classes, and your English does not improve, your free classes may be discontinued.
Here are the class days and hours for the rest of the school year (we are closed during the summer):
Level 1, 2, 3 classes: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thurs.- 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Level 4, 5, 6 classes: Monday and Wednesday — 6:30 to 9 p.m.
If you know of anyone who could use these classes, please let them know that we have lots of room for new students. If we find that we are being approached for classes for professionals or people with level 7 and higher English, we may be able to meet their needs next year, but they need to be assessed this year, so that we can talk about setting up a program for them.
Contact: Susan Nelson, I.M.S.S, 279 N 3rd Ave Williams Lake, V2G 2A6 or Fax: 250-392-4475 or e-mail at: susan@imss.ca
If you have any questions, phone Nelson, ELSA instructor and co-ordinator, at 250-392-4446.