FREE English language classes are being run for Bangladeshi women in London’s deprived East End to help them integrate. The classes are organised by City Gateway with role play to create basic situations to learn simple phrases

FREE English language classes are being run for Bangladeshi women in London’s deprived East End to help them integrate.

The classes are organised by City Gateway with role play to create basic situations to learn simple phrases.

Around four-out-of-10 people in Tower Hamlets are Bangladeshi, the charity points out.

One of the main problems women face when arriving in East London from Bangladesh is the language barrier, often preventing them using public services such as GP surgery or the local library.

“We want these women to integrate,” said City Gateway’s marketing manager Jerry Daykin. “But unless they learn English, it’s never going to happen.

“We want to encourage them into work, but the basic English lessons we’re running are also to helps them to make friends.”

City Gateway is also opening a community cafe at its centre in Poplar on April 29, offering subsidised food and giving the women a chance to practice their English.