Nanny in Edmonton, Alberta

I am a retired elementary teacher. Deborah lived with me for about five months in 2016 when she came to Canada to study English. She and I were introduced through a mutual friend. Deborah was a respectful and thoughtful roommate. She treated my things with care and adapted well to living in my home. She was independent, quickly learned her way around the city’s transportation system and seriously pursued her English language course. Deborah’s warm and outgoing personality earned her a close group of friends from her course. At the time, I was teaching in a grade two classroom. Deborah volunteered in my classroom during the months of June, September and October, 2016. She worked with individual students and small groups of students. Deborah helped students to practice reading, gave support to them in writing activities and worked with students to practice and complete math activities. She also acted as a leader of a small group of students on a field trip to an historic sight. Deborah also assisted in some materials preparation. Deborah was punctual, always friendly, and willing to do whatever was asked of her. She conducted herself in a polite and professional manner with both students and staff. Her help in the classroom was greatly appreciated. Deborah’s language skills were already well developed when she arrived but were deepened and strengthened through her course and living in Canada. In my opinion, she is a very able English speaker.

I had the pleasure of meeting Deborah in 2016 when we both were studying English as a second language at the University of Alberta. She was the first person I talked to when we had our orientation day. It was the first day of school so I didn’t know anybody nor did I speak English very well, but I remember how she instantly made me feel welcomed and comfortable. Deborah has a very vibrant and enthusiastic personality which makes you want to be around her. In addition, we shared 5 months of studying and volunteering in Edmonton. As our friendship grew, I knew she was a person you can trust and rely on. Moreover, she had to go back to Brazil but we made the promise of keeping in touch and meeting again at each other’s weddings. She really kept that promise as she became my bridesmaid in 2017. Since then, we keep in touch and speak to each other at least once per week.