My name is Vic. I’m a recently retired Wellington public servant. I signed up to become a volunteer home tutor at English Language Partners because I knew others who had done it, and it seemed like a useful thing to do.

Genet, originally from Ethiopia, has lived in New Zealand for some time. She has a good knowledge of English vocabulary. She was keen to join our volunteer home tutor programme to improve her conversational English and increase her confidence. Genet and I began working together in September 2024.

Genet and I have a mutual interest in food and cooking and since retiring I’ve been spending more time in my garden. This gave me the idea to incorporate gardening and herbs into the English lessons with Genet. I started with a simple lesson using realia (herbs) from my garden. The success of that activity blossomed into a succession of related activities all based around herbs and gardening.

Talking about herbs – making comparisons and taking about favourites

One week I collected cuttings of fresh herbs (basil, bay, coriander, lemon balm, marjoram, parsley, sage and tarragon) as the basis of a lesson. For each herb, Genet smelt it and named it in English (if known). We talked about which herbs were common in Ethiopia and how Genet used the herbs. Her favourites were coriander, mint, parsley and rosemary.

Recipes – practising talking about sequential steps.

Genet talked to me about recipes to practise describing steps in a process. For example, this recipe using tomatoes and coriander:‍

• Cut the tomatoes small, small.
• Add a little bit of chopped white onions, chilli, coriander and spring onions.
• Mix together and add lemon juice, a little bit of salt and oil.
• Wash and cook rice, dry in the sun.
• Add the tomato mixture.

Sharing food and culture

Through Spring, Summer and early Autumn I could usually offer Genet something from my garden. This small gift – some flowers, tomatoes, courgettes or feijoas, was appreciated. For my part I was pleased to have something to offer in return for her hospitality. Genet makes me coffee and something to go with it. Usually this is injera (a slightly sour fermented pancake-like flatbread) used to scoop up the hot and spicy dishes served with it. Delicious!

I learnt about Tena’Adam (Rue), an Ethiopian herb widely used in culinary and medicinal practices. Genet dries the berries and grinds them in the coffee grinder. Tena’Adam is used to add an aromatic touch to the coffee ceremony.

Being a home tutor is very rewarding. It is a privilege to enter someone’s home, to learn about their culture and to explore similarities and differences of experience and worldview.

Sowing seeds and expanding vocabulary

For one lesson I took some gardening tools, and we had a working bee in Genet’s garden. This complemented a lesson about common garden equipment and their uses. Clearing the weeds encouraged the parsley and mint Genet already had to grow. Recently she added some coriander seedlings, another favourite culinary herb.

Another time I brought some packets of seed and seed raising mix. Our lesson included vocabulary about sowing and tending the seeds. A few weeks later, the spring onions had formed seedlings although the basil seeds failed to germinate. We planted out the spring onions, along with some spare vegetable seedlings from my garden.

Practising English in every day life – a visit to the garden centre

On another occasion we visited the local garden centre. Our lesson was based on identifying and discussing plants that grew in Ethiopia. It also involved ordering a coffee and practising using English in a café.

Growing confidence

Genet is more confident now managing interactions in English in person and by phone. It is a source of pride that she now interacts with her doctor and Work and Income without an interpreter. Her increased confidence is apparent to others. Genet shared with me that someone she regularly speaks to complimented her on how much her English speaking had improved.

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