english

Speaking English was a new experience for me

“I moved to Dundee in 1972, about 13 years after my marriage. I was somewhere around 17-19 years old when I got married – in those days no one really kept track of age. After my marriage, I lived with my Aunty and 2 children in India.

My husband came to the UK for work and after 4 years working there, he was then allowed to bring his family with him.

I couldn’t speak English when I came to Dundee. In India during that time, many girls were not in Education and I only studied until a certain age. My parents thought we just needed to know how to write letters as it wasn’t expected in those days that we would have to work.

When I moved to the UK, I did not make much effort to learn English. I didn’t need to work and spent most of my time at home so I did not feel the need to know how to speak English. However, over the years I realised that I wanted to go out of the house and speak to other people. I have since picked up many words by interacting with others. Even though I don’t speak the language fluently I can still understand when someone chats with me.

Missing India, but making a life for my family here in Dundee

There are many things that I miss about India. I miss my family there, but I guess many people would feel the same way? To me, home is where my children are and I have been blessed with a very happy life with my children. They are well settled here so I am happy to be here. After all, what would I do in India on my own?

I do go back to India often to visit my relatives. Sometimes I even go back twice a year so I don’t feel like I have much of an opportunity to miss them. There are many others who don’t get the chance to go back home and I can only imagine how hard it must be for them.

I have been coming to DIWC for around 5 years now. I like coming to the Bazorg group. I get the chance to meet everyone and have a good chat. It’s a nice atmosphere to be here and we are all happy. I enjoy being involved in the variety of activities provided for us from exercising to massaging and many more. It is a lot of fun”

S.K. #womenofdundee

Mariam share’s her inspiring story, how she was able to achieve her dreams by taking English classes at DIWC, which then led to her enrolling at Dundee College and to take on a Receptionist role at the Centre. Which just goes to show that no matter what, you should always try to push yourself and make the most out of the opportunities in front of you – and she did just that!

I married young and settled in Dundee after a time

I was born and brought up in Mali. My whole family is still living there. Back in 2006 at the age of 18, I married a young man, Mahamadou who is now my husband. We moved to Paris after our marriage. I spent 2 months in Paris before moving to Dundee.

Feeling isolated due to the language barrier led me to DIWC

At first, Dundee felt very foreign to me. I felt lonely and isolated when I first arrived with no one to talk to and nowhere to go. Going from living with all my family members to arriving at a city I had never even heard of was a very strange feeling. Watching the TV does not help as all the channels are in English and I did not understand the language at that time.

My husband’s friend informed us about Dundee International Women’s Centre. From there I started the beginner’s English class. I was not going to let my language barrier stop me from living a good life. I decided that I needed to go out of the house and do something for myself. Once I gained my self-confidence and my English began to improve I attended other classes and events in the centre. I then gathered the courage to take my English skills to the next level by attending Dundee College.

Living in this city enabled me to achieve my dreams in a way I never thought possible

I never expected that Dundee would be the city that enabled me to achieve my dreams. I pushed myself harder and enrolled in a computing class which taught me admin and customer service skills. I got the opportunity to apply these skills in a real-life working environment. I did my placement as a receptionist at DIWC. While doing all this I was pregnant with my third child. It was a hard journey to take care of 2 toddlers, being pregnant and also trying to go after my ambitions. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to do too much at one time. But I felt so empowered to not give up. After I completed my placement I continued to volunteer for 3 months at DIWC until I applied for the receptionist post in 2016.

I have achieved so much already, but want to do more

I never dreamt in my life that I will be able to not only speak English fluently but to be able to secure a job. My biggest achievement was when I completed my ECDL course. Now I feel that anything in this world is possible as long as I put my mind into it.

Being a full-time mum with 3 young children and working as a receptionist at the same time; I don’t think my 18-year-old self would have believed that I could be the woman I am today.

All this was possible because of the encouragement and support I got from the DIWC. Even on a bad day, I come into the centre and instantly feel better about myself. The crèche facility is a huge driver in enabling me to further my education. Knowing that my children are always nearby puts my mind at ease.

In 5 years’ time, I would like to see myself established in a role where I am even busier than I am now – if that’s even possible! I have been in Dundee for 9 years and I am loving my life here. Sometimes when I go back to Mali I need to readjust myself to fit right back in. Dundee has changed me in ways I thought was never possible. I am now fluent in English, French and Bambara. Even if I move to another city in the future I am confident that I can make the most of it.

Mariam Niakate #WomenOfDundee

#WomenOfDundee: How the DIWC helped me to make friends and get involved in the community