Jane and Samina have been meeting up for mentoring sessions most Tuesday evenings. Samina has lived in the UK for many years but struggles with her written English and grammar.  She also aims to pass her driving test in the UK, and to become accredited as an interpreter, as part of her day-to-day work is as an interpreter.  They worked towards these aims in their sessions.  It was fun for Jane to learn driving theory with her mentee as she also wants to take her driving test soon.  Jane went through Samina’s written assessments and helped her with some computer skills. Jane helped Samina write an email to an interpreting company so she could receive the full amount for some work she had done.

Jane has been helping Samina fill out the application form for her accreditation.  She feels Samina’s grammar skills have definitely improved; she is much more able to use different tenses correctly and is more confident.  Learning driving theory is also expanding her vocabulary.

They have also developed a good relationship – talking often about her experiences in her home country in Africa and cooking traditional food.  They always eat together during their sessions and Jane feels this has been a really lovely part of their time together. They have built up trust and communicate well while not overstepping the mentor/mentee relationship.  Samina is definitely progressing. Jane feels she has also developed personally by improving her teaching skills and her ability to adapt to new situations.