Visiting the pharmacy is something that everyone needs to do. In the UK, it can be intimidating for students with little or no English to do vital tasks concerning their own health – for example, for them to arrange a GP appointment over the phone or consult a pharmacist about medicine or dosage.
Knowing this barrier to healthcare, one of EMBS’ veteran teachers Tasneem Khan decided last week to plan a lesson and field trip around the topic for her daytime and evening ESOL and Cohesion classes. During classtime, the students learned to recognise symptoms of different illnesses and read instructions for taking different medicines. They ended the session by role-playing to register at the GP and make a doctor’s appointment. After that both classes visited Boots Pharmacy to hunt for different medicines, read related instructions, and make notes.
Tasneem reports that these trips outside the classroom often are engaging and well-attended. The students visit familiar places and complete tasks that they often encounter in their day-to-day lives. Over time, this helps them develop the confidence to interact with native English speakers and advocate for their own needs and wants.
