Local People

XENIA & NATALY

Interview: Emily Conolan

Xenia and Nataly met through the TasTAFE AMEP Volunteer Home Tutor Program and have forged a strong friendship while Nataly practised English language. AMEP is the Adult Migrant English Program.

Xenia:

My family’s from Greece – my grandparents often tell me how hard it was to learn a new language. That’s the reason I signed up to be a tutor in the first place. I wasn’t matched with a student for quite a while. And then the coordinator said, ‘I’ve got a girl called Nataly, she’s your age, she’s from Syria, and I think you two would get along.’ As soon as we saw each other, we were like, ‘Oh, I like your jacket!’ ‘I like your shoes!’ We just hit it off straight away, and I thought, ‘This is going to be fun.’ I felt scared at first because I was responsible for someone’s learning, but Nataly really wanted to improve her conversation skills. We’d meet up in a public area, go shopping, and make a day of it, so it got easier.

I like how she’s so bubbly – it was so easy to get along. As soon as I walked in, her family welcomed me with open arms. Greek and Syrian families seem very similar, we have a lot of the same values and traditions. I think it’s helped me understand a lot more. I didn’t know a lot about Syria, and I don’t know a lot of people my own age who have started a different life, and I think it’s opened my perspective.

I watched her walk down the aisle – it was a surreal moment. She looked so beautiful. I’ve only ever been to Greek weddings, but Syrian weddings are just as amazing! All the dancing, all the food – it’s one of my happiest memories.

Nataly and Xenia

Nataly:

I don’t like to talk about the war in my country, but before the war, Syria was really nice and safe. I left when I was 18. It’s so hard when you come here, you don’t have any friends. The first meeting, I was worried if Xenia was going to understand my English, my thoughts, and my traditions. But when she said, ‘My family is from Greece,’ we found common traditions, and that made me really comfortable. Especially when I was preparing for my wedding, I started explaining to her and she was like, ‘Don’t explain, we have the same thing!’

I like how she is calm, and kind. I remember that day when she said, ‘I think your English is starting to be good, I think we have to sign off the program.’ I thought maybe she was going to say, ‘That’s it, goodbye, nice to meet you,’ but she said, ‘No, we’re still friends, we’ll still go out and meet each other.’

Every step in my life she’s with me – she’s so kind. I love her! I’m so excited to be going to Xenia’s wedding. I like this relationship with her, I like the respect for each other; we understand each other. Even when I say something that I think she can’t understand, she’s like, ‘I know what you mean.’ Australia has some very big differences from my country, but now everything is fine for us, we’re used to it.

To find out more about becoming a volunteer home tutor for the program contact: TasTAFE.home.tutor.ELS@TasTAFE.tas.edu.au.

Xenia at Nataly’s wedding