WORKERS at the Friday Bridge International Camp have been brushing up on their language skills with the help of Cambridgeshire County Council s Library Learning Service. Thanks to support from Fenland Links, Library Learning Service Tutor Mel Khan and Vol

WORKERS at the Friday Bridge International Camp have been brushing up on their language skills with the help of Cambridgeshire County Council's Library Learning Service.

Thanks to support from Fenland Links, Library Learning Service Tutor Mel Khan and Volunteer Outreach Co-ordinator Nyree Scott, have been offering 'A Taste of English' courses - and they have had customers queuing out of the door.

Mel and Nyree guided learners through an online English language course, which included skills such as following directions and telling the time in English, and they were also on hand to offer more in-depth help and assistance.

Nyree Scott, said: "Faced with the challenge of not speaking Bulgarian, Polish or Czech, we were overwhelmed at the level of enthusiasm that we were greeted with. We certainly were not expecting a queue out of the door of people wishing to participate."

The pair were able to make regular visit to the International Camp near Wisbech, get to know the people living there, and offer learning sessions to anyone wanting to improve their English.

In total 27 people, mostly aged between 21 and 30, signed up for the sessions, with some deciding to take their lessons further by signing up for literacy courses at their local Library Learning Centre.

"We spent time going through the Taste of English package, but we also explained how to use an online translation website to make the learning a two way process. We compared words in English with words in Polish, practiced saying words back to them in Polish and also helped learners with English pronunciation, and distinguishing between differing regional accents," added Mel Khan.

Fenland Links is a Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder programme, which works with local service providers to improve services to meet the needs of local people and reduce deprivation in the area. The programme is funded through the Local Area Agreement and administered by Cambridgeshire County Council.

County Council Cabinet Member for Communities, Councillor Fred Yeulett,

said: "We are delighted that all kinds of people are able to benefit from our Library Learning Centres and that we are assisting people living at Fridaybridge to integrate into the local community by helping them to improve their English.