Junko from Japan
Certificate III in Spoken and Written English
When I migrated to Australia from Japan I was 41 years old. I met my Australian
husband in Japan and we decided to come here because we believed that Australia
was a good country to raise our baby. When I arrived in Australia I couldn’t
speak English well, and I even needed my husband’s help to enrol at
AMES.
I started the Level III class at Campsie AMES. After that I studied Conversation,
Pre-IELTS and Online study at AMES in Surry Hills. My teachers’ advice,
such as reading newspapers and listening to the radio, was very helpful.
(I still continue doing them now.)
When I was small I dreamed of becoming an interpreter. I never imagined
this dream would come true, but it has. Luisa, an AMES officer at Campsie,
motivated me by saying “Why don’t you give it a try here in
Australia?”. As I am a simple person, I just took her advice and tried… and
last year, when I was 45 years old, I got NAATI Paraprofessional Interpreter’s
Accreditation!
Now I am mainly working for Centrelink as an interpreter and gradually
accumulating experience in the business area. I am also studying Accounting
and Finance at Ultimo TAFE to get background knowledge of business and trading.
Actually it is hard for me to manage the time to study, work, look after
my 4-year-old son and do housework, but I say why not try when I can get
support from society and my family? I am happy to be in Australia because
it has given me a great chance. I want to tell all the AMES students that
all of us will be successful if we continue making an effort. Don’t
give up, and be happy!
Priscila from Brazil
Certificate IV in Spoken and Written English
I moved to Australia at the beginning of 2007 with years of experience
in IT, but without a job or network. Attending the Certificate IV in Spoken
and Written English – Jobseeking (Skillmax course) helped me to fit
into the Australian workplace. It taught me everything from how to prepare
my résumé to how to approach employers in an interview. There
is no similar English course in Australia in terms of content and quality.
Furthermore, all NSW AMES staff are really professional and work with
a lot of passion to encourage us as students to be confident, even if English
is not our first language. After class some teachers were also happy to
spend extra time with us if we were having problems understanding anything
we had been taught. Something fantastic to be highlighted is also the cultural
diversity in the classes, proving that here we all have the same opportunities.
Even though it was hard leaving my family and friends in Brazil, people
at AMES made me feel very welcome. My most rewarding experience was meeting
new people who have become some of my closest friends.
This environment and enthusiasm helped me to get my job in the beginning
of Term 2 in a well-known multinational company. Now I'm really confident
about my potential and I'm preparing myself to do the academic IELTS test
to hopefully start a postgraduate course next year.
I can definitely say that AMES prepared me for the Australian job market
and I totally recommend this pathway to other new migrants.
Maggie from China
Certificate III in Spoken and Written English
Certificate III in Children’s
Services
It’s a success for all 19 girls, my dear friends, to celebrate the
completion of our studies. We have been working hard for the past 6 months
and accomplished 14 books and hundreds of hours of practicum.
We have different colours of skin, we have different habits of life and
we have different religions - but we share the same goal. We will have a
better life in the future and enjoy this multicultural society in Australia.
At this moment I feel I am part of this society, not a visitor.
Momoh from Sierra Leone
Certificate III in Spoken and Written English and
Certificate III
in Community Services - Aged Care Work
For Momoh Australia has truly been the land of opportunity. He wanted to
train as a nurse in his home country, Sierra Leone, but due to political unrest
and the high cost of education he was unable to fulfil this dream.
When Momoh enrolled at NSW AMES he was eligible for free English and vocational
courses. He saw this as his pathway into nursing. He completed the Certificate
III in Spoken and Written English at the same time as he completed Certificate
III in Community Services - Aged Care Work through the NSW AMES Bankstown Centre
and Bankstown Community College.
As soon as he graduated he was offered a full-time position in a nursing
home. He is now studying the Certificate IV in Enrolled Nursing part-time as he sees his next step as qualifying as an Enrolled Nurse.
Emilija from Latvia
Certificate I in Spoken and Written English
I was born in Latvia in a large and friendly family. I went to school and
after university graduation I started to work as an engineer.
My daughter and her husband came to Australia. I missed my daughter very
much, so 8 months ago I moved to Australia. Although I still miss my relatives,
I am very happy here.
Now I am a student at NSW AMES. I want to learn English language, find a
good job and become a happy Australian.
Kereshmeh from Iran
Language of Childbirth Course
This class has been really useful for me. I am 14 weeks pregnant and I didn’t
know anything about pregnancy and labour here, and it is very different to
my country.
We learned a lot of things about making an appointment at the antenatal clinic,
eating during the pregnancy, learning how to rest and relax, buying clothes
for the baby, information about staying at the hospital and a lot of other
useful information.
I think everyone who has English as their second language and is pregnant
should attend these classes.
Patrick from Kenya
Certificate IV in Spoken and Written English
The support I got at AMES began on the first day when the staff member assessing
me said that I could get a good job in a government department. Studying at
AMES gave me the comfort I needed, being among Australian professionals, doing
a professional activity and being in the midst of other migrant jobseeker professionals.
Getting a job was not going to be easy, so the knowledge I picked up at AMES
was going to be useful, and it definitely was!
The key things I learnt at AMES are: for a person with my educational background
and length of work experience, I could be rejected as over-qualified for certain
positions; recruitment agents may not understand how to fit me in the job market
and that my chances of getting a job would improve if I learnt how to market
myself directly to employers; that researching the prospective employers was
going to give me a high level of preparedness for succeeding in getting and
doing interviews; doing volunteer work was an essential for me for entry into
this job market; that I should aim at getting volunteer work in activities
close to my chosen field of work; that doing a regular commute to the volunteer
job can be more fruitful than its cost; and that being proactive to build your
own network of friends and professionals is building a vital asset.
With this preparedness, I applied directly for positions at a major bank
and after several interactions and interviews, I succeeded in getting a job
there. Through using similar approaches, I now have an offer of a professional
level job in a program funded by the Australian Federal Government. AMES
provided excellent references for me in each case.
I am now looking forward to having an excellent and rewarding professional
career in Australia!
Dan from China
Certificate IV in Spoken and Written English
Australia is the most beautiful country in the world. However, I found that
even though I hold a Master degree and work experience it’s difficult
to find a job. So I started my study at AMES.
I had to get familiar with the Australian work culture. I learnt how to make
telephone calls, how to write a good covering letter and how to tailor myrésumé and
enhance my strengths according to job requirements. I also learnt how to prepare
for, and how to attend, an interview. All these skills are very useful in job
seeking.
The most important thing is that all the teachers and students here are very
nice and will do their best to help me. Sometimes, I felt very upset in this
long hard journey, but I got a lot of support from them.
I am now working in a permanent position for the Commonwealth Bank, which
I love.
Meherun from Bangladesh
Certificate III in Spoken and Written English
Certificate II in Business
Studying at NSW AMES helped me in many aspects. I was glad to get a place
on the course. Before going to AMES I didn’t want to speak in English
and it helped me a lot with my fluency. I was able to study even though I had
a little boy to look after because I could get free child care.
I was very fond of my teachers. They helped me to understand the work environment
in Australia. I learnt how to write business correspondence, to work in a team
and how to communicate effectively. I also learnt how to plan what I should
do to get a good job.
We completed work experience as part of our course which made me feel more
confident. I put the work experience on my résumé and this helped
me to get a job interview. I went for the interview last week and I have been
offered the job!
Ekavan from Thailand
International Computer Driving Licence
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my teachers for the time and
effort they provided to make the ICDL course one of the best courses at AMES.
It helped me a lot with my work and office skills. I can manage all my files
and use wordprocessing to present my work now.
Computer skills are the fundamentals of every job these days. It is better
to know how to do things rather than have to ask someone at work, as they can
get annoyed. I am glad I did it.
Zuzana from Slovakia
International Computer Driving Licence
I heard about AMES when I was working in a pizza shop. I joined the International
Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) class at AMES Surry Hills and now I work as
an Administrative Assistant at the Powerhouse Museum. The course helped me
get the job because I am not one of the “computer generation”.
Whilst I was studying I had to stop the class but I continued to do ICDL
with my teacher, Anna, by email. Without ICDL I would still be working in the
pizza shop.