Young Ukrainian learner overcomes the toughest of hurdles

A young learner at Cambridge Regional College has excelled despite huge challenges. Oleksii, 26, came to the UK shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. He spent 3 months in a Dutch refugee centre, whilst waiting to be paired with a host from the UK.

Due to being profoundly deaf, Oleksii chose to spend his time at the refugee camp preparing himself for his new life in the UK. Becoming extremely proficient in British Sign Language in a matter of months. He has recently enrolled at Cambridge Regional College on an ESOL course, which will help him with learning support as he progresses. With a long term goal of studying computing at a degree-level.

Oleksii’s new host, Isobel, is a retired teacher of the deaf. She said “Oleksii amazes everyone he meets with his positive attitude. He reads and writes in Ukrainian, Russian and English – and he’s better than I am at British sign language!”. All of us at Cambridge Regional College would like to wish Oleksii all the best in his future studies and endeavours.

To keep up with more successes from Cambridge Regional College make sure check out our Instagram, Facebook & Twitter. For more information on hearing loss and British Sign Language, take a look the Royal National Institute for the Deaf’s website. If you’re interested in taking an ESOL course at CRC, find a list of our available courses here.