'You read the Mercury everyday': How Dino learned English one headline at a time

Arriving in Australia by boat from Italy, with a stopover in France, Mr Golya lived in the Migrant Hostel in Unanderra where he used to walk to work at the steelworks.

For Mr Golya, the Mercury was the one of the only avenues to learning English.

"It helped me, with the headlines, maybe I understand two, three words and then I tried to work out what the other words mean," Mr Golya

Thaat was how he learned English, he said "because there was no school".

There were some rough points adjusting to the new language - which these days bring a wry smile.

"I was young, 25 or 26 years old seeing a girl in North Wollongong walking with a dog."

"I say hello and I say you have a nice cat ... She gave me a dirty look and then walked away."

It wasn't until Mr Golya shared that experience with another Italian, who had been in Australia longer, that he realised hi error.

"He started laughing: 'That wasn't a cat that was a dog'."

Mr Golya career at the steelworks lasted 22 years. So dedicated was he to learning his new language that it not only helped him gain promotions but eventually made him the man others would ask for spelling advice.

"So I remember I was buying the paper and the steelwork boss came to me: 'We are considering you to become a foreman'."

"I said 'No, no, I can't read' and he said 'You read the Mercury every day'.

"I was leading hand and they made me foreman and I had to write reports and safety meetings and lots of people were there.

"After maybe 10 years I was better at spelling than they were because of the Mercury."

Mr Golya will celebrate his 90^th birthday next month.

After living in Austinmer for 46 years where he owned Ann's Takeaway and Mixed Business for 25 years, he now resides in Dapto.

He calls it "a good life".