Home Away from Home workshop to improve English and connect with the Australian community

FINDING it hard to break out of your comfort zone? The upcoming Home Away from Home workshop is an ideal starting point for students to have fun, connect and develop self-confidence to better engage the local community and students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Manuella Silveira has more. 

Calling all international students! If English is your second or third language, and you sometimes don’t feel confident to fully express yourself in English, here’s a chance to overcome your fear and shyness.

The upcoming Home Away from Home workshop is one worth penciling into your diary, and promises to be an enlarging experience for those looking to make the most of their time here in Australia.

Taking place every Monday night from November 3 to December 8 at Library at The Dock in Docklands, the workshop is free, and is designed to improve your English, boost your confidence in speaking fluently and engaging with the Australian community.

Organised by the Australian Federation of International Students (AFIS) and supported by the City of Melbourne, the workshop is being conducted by artist director Catherine Simmonds, who has had 22 years of experience working with diverse communities and people from all around the world.

She will be working with participants to explore the question, “How can we be at home in ourselves no matter where we are?”

More specifically,  the workshop will open up a space for students to experience Melbourne as a home away from home by connecting to the wider community and discovering how they might want to know about international students and conversely, how students might want to know about them.

The workshop’s focus on verbal skills and self-expression will also be handy down the line at job interviews where confidence and the ability to communicate effectively are valued highly.

The Home Away from Home workshop will take place Monday 7pm weekly from November 3 to December 8 at Library at The Dock (Docklands Library), 107 Victoria Harbour Promenade, Docklands. Spots are limited, so register now to secure yours by sending an email to antoinette@afis.org.au.