ZAHID Alikhel was only seven when his parents were killed in Afghanistan within two months of each other.

With no family left around him, the orphan was sent to Wiltshire as an asylum seeker when he was 14 alone and unable to speak a word of English.

But at 16 and now living in Swindon, he can easily hold a conversation and is looking forward to a career in engineering.

Zahid is one of 300 asylum seekers, refugees and Europeans learning to speak English at the Migrant Training Centre, based in Manchester Road.

"First my father was killed when I was seven and then my mother two months later," said Zahid.

"I didn't have brothers and sisters so I was just alone.

"When I was 14 I was allowed to leave and I was sent to Chippenham to live with a family.

"I didn't know what people were saying but the family helped me with my language.

"Then when I was 16 I came to Swindon."

The teenager lives alone in a bed and breakfast in Manchester Road, but he says he's grateful for that.

"I see what is happening in Afghanistan on the TV and it does make me sad because of what happened to my family," he said.

"But my future is good now. I have learned lots of English at the centre and I've been on computer courses. I have a best friend now."

And Zahid has got a taste for learning.

"I want to do lots more courses now. Maybe I will come to college and may become an engineer," he said.

Natalia Sullivan's arrival in Swindon was very different.

The 29-year-old from Serbia in Russia fell in love and married 38-year-old Jason, a computer programmer, of Faringdon Road.

And the pair did all of this without being able to speak the same language.

"We met on the internet so you could translate," she said.

"James came to visit me four times before I moved to Swindon but I couldn't speak English and he couldn't speak Russian, so it was very funny.

"We used a translator machine and in restaurants I did actions to show him the food."

The couple got married in Swindon but Natalia had to have an interpreter by her side so she could say her vows.

"When I first came I couldn't really speak that much to my husband but now I can.

"That's why I went to the centre, so I could speak to him and his family.

"I still don't always understand TV programmes but I'm hoping I will do."

The Migrant Training Centre offers full-time English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and ICT courses.

In three years tutors have trained almost 1,000 people from countries such as Somalia and Lithuania.

At a celebration event students received certificates of achievement handed out by North Swindon MP Michael Wills.

Tutor Luciana Trinder said: "It's extremely important these people learn English so they can integrate with the community and get good jobs."

For information about the courses, visit the website at www.migrant-training.org