Ilya Myshkin, Tasmania

When Ilya found out that the Burnie Library was holding English conversation groups, he joined up so he could improve his spoken English and build his vocabulary. Six months later, Ilya began 1:1 English as an Additional Language tutoring with a focus on written and spoken English.

Growing up in rural Russia, Ilya, now 25, learnt some English grammar and reading while at school but minimal spoken English. At 17, Ilya moved to St Petersburg to study nursing and then spent a year in Kazakhstan before moving to Burnie.

Despite facing challenges, Ilya is a resilient learner who is extremely focused on learning English. He prioritises attending his tutorial sessions and his time working with his tutor has brought about significant change in his spoken and written English communication. When he began attending sessions, Ilya’s communication in English was very limited and he found it hard to understand what others were saying. He is now communicating in English with greater confidence and, with the support of his library tutor, is now completing a Certificate II with NSW TAFE – Spoken and Written English.

Ilya is supporting his study with cleaning and farm-hand jobs, with his ultimate goal being to complete further studies in the area of medicine.