Alicia’s path to LEAH is one that winds back decades – through an English school in Buenos Aires, through university lecture halls and a TEFL degree, through a long career as a translator, and finally, into retirement and the question that many driven people find themselves asking: what now? For Alicia, the answer was never in doubt. It was always going to be language. And it was always going to be people.
A childhood shaped by words
Growing up in Argentina, Alicia attended an English school – and from the very beginning, she was captivated. During English lessons, she would jump ahead to the revision sections of her textbook, racing through crosswords, word searches and language games, blissfully unaware of whatever the teacher was actually trying to explain.
“I did get into a fair amount of trouble, but I had a great time and thought the fun was worth the hassle!”
That love of language never left her. After completing her TEFL degree, Alicia was offered a position as assistant to the Head of English at her university.
“An almost frightening challenge, but one I enjoyed every bit of.”
She went on to build a career as a translator, working from home for many years, before eventually retiring some time after the COVID pandemic.
Putting a degree to good use
Retirement, for someone like Alicia, was never going to mean doing nothing.
In 2023, she joined LEAH – finally putting that TEFL qualification to the use she had always intended for it. Her first student was a South African woman who wanted to improve her comprehension and expand her everyday vocabulary, to speak more easily with the people around her.
The progress was gradual but real. At the start, Alicia’s learner lacked confidence – hesitant, uncertain of herself. Together they worked through texts built around her interests and goals, slowly building both skill and self-belief. By the end of their year together, she felt ready to move into a group class at LEAH, which she reported enjoying enormously.
“I have never looked back.”
A new challenge
This year brings a very different kind of learner: a Sri Lankan woman who arrived with almost no English at all. It is, Alicia acknowledges, much more of a challenge. Communication has had to be built from the ground up, word by patient word.
But this is also where the reward lies. When her learner began putting two or three words together – small, tentative phrases, hard-won – Alicia found herself moved in a way she hadn’t quite expected.
“I find this hugely rewarding. Volunteering with LEAH has given me the chance to do what I have always loved – working with language and with people. It feels like everything has come full circle.”
Alicia, LEAH volunteer