English are PIASS

Yes, it has been over three weeks since I have written anything, but my time has been packed with teaching English and editing English, my former vocations of about 20 years ago. I am teaching an English class for first year students from all three faculties – theology, education and development. I have 50 students at various levels of knowledge and ability. All have had basic English but how much they have retained or used is another issue. Some have rudimentary knowledge; some have head knowledge but little speaking ability or willingness; a few are eager to speak and learn from doing so and four of them are quite good. These four have been educated in Congo or Burundi and are here for the Peacebuilding component of the Faculty of Development. This is a program that is gaining a solid reputation in the Great Lakes Region, as Rwanda and the neighboring countries are known. These four students have become my unofficial teaching assistants, since they must take the class, regardless of their level of proficiency and I need the help in working with the students in small groups. This has worked out well for everyone.

One of the redeeming graces of the class is the students’ eagerness to learn. While routinely several come to class late, this is not from lack of interest, but from lack of timely transportation from a great distance. These students are teachers in remote areas around Butare and must find public transportation after teaching all day. Most of the transportation at that time of day is heading away from the city, not into it, making finding a ride an even bigger challenge. The college has made arrangements with several local minibus drivers to come at 9 p.m. to gather riders for the trip home. That at least is a blessing.

In class, we focus pronunciation, reading, comprehension, grammar and writing, all in three hours a night, five nights a week. I was initially told that I had 3 weeks with the students. When I gently protested that that was not enough time to prepare them to learn and write in English, I was granted an extra week. Then last week, without my asking, I was granted another week.(We have a flexible program here.) So from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. every week night we are working on upgrading English skills so that the students can succeed in their academic studies. This is quite different from a Freshman English course in the States. These folks have only had four years of English, at most, and English is a third or fourth language for many of them. Comprehension and pronunciation are as fundamental as grammar for them. All my lectures are presented using power point, so the students can see as well as hear. This is also helpful since we do not have a textbook. So the power point becomes a text of sorts. Many of the students bring flash drives and download the lessons. This is possible since they are also taking a basic IT course and have access to the computer lab here at PIASS. Technology is our friend (when we have electricity).

In addition to this work with frist year students, I have been editing final dissertations for the senior theology students. The struggle there is that some of them are about as proficient in English as some of my Level 1 students. Uses of articles, pronouns, prepositions, and verb tenses are challenges. This doesn’t address spelling (English words do not sound as they are spelled) and specialized vocabulary for the various fields of study. All of these must be corrected. It is time consuming. I have done six such papers while I have been preparing and teaching, so there has been little time for my own writing. Thank you for understanding. Please understand. I am not complaining. I am delighted with what I am doing. It is so fulfilling to see God bring together my past degrees and experience and use them in a new environment, one that dearly needs them, to equip eager students to prepare to make a difference in their own lives and in their country. What a blessing!