I have started a “Cours de Formation en Anglais” (Training Course in English) here in Fatick. So far it has been a huge success, and so I thought I would share a little bit about it.

The Structure

“Cours de Formation en Anglais” is open to nonprofit professionals, educators, civil servants (including workers in the sectors of health, safety, and administration), and other Fatick community members who would like to improve their ability to speak English. The course is for learners with any level of English, but it is intensive and stresses spoken and professional English. Participants must attend as frequently as possible, be highly motivated, and be ready to cooperate, with me and with one another, to improve their English. In all, there will be 29 two hour courses, so I am providing 58 total hours of English-language training. Here is the calendar:

November: 17, 19, 24, 26

December: 1, 3, 8, 10, 17

January: 26, 28

February: 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25

March: 2, 4, 18, 23, 25, 30

April: 1, 6, 8, 13, 27, 29

Classes are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9pm at the regional headquarters of the Agence Nationale de Conseil Agricole et Rurale (ANCAR), the National Agricultural and Rural Advisory Council. The Regional Director of ANCAR, Mr. Jean Charles Faye has given me access to the ANCAR conference room as per an in-kind contribution to my efforts here in Fatick. (He is also one of my most avid and enthusiastic students!)

The Process

I started this course by doing some “grassroots” advertising.  I wrote up a course description (in French; it took me a while) and used it to make a simple poster.  I then went around to nonprofit organizations, government offices, the public services, and schools and got permission to advertise my course.  I hung about 30 posters in total, and I now have about 35 students, so I consider my advertising campaign to be a success.

One of the posters at a local NGO

Each participant has to register for the course and take a pre-test the first night they attend. The pre-test serves to determine their English level and gauge their pre-existing knowledge of project management, HIV/AIDS, and gender issues. With the exception of classes on project management, HIV/AIDS awareness, and gender equity, I did not have a fixed curriculum for the course. Instead, I devised a simple needs assessment, and the participants, coming from a variety of sectors and backgrounds, expressed their academic and professional needs. Basically, I asked them how I could help them (aside from “speaking better English”), and what they wanted to get from the course, especially for their professions. Using the information they provided, I devised a “potential curriculum” for the course and then presented it to the class. They happily accepted the curriculum on the very first draft! (Needless to say, I was rather pleased.)

Participants discussing the course syllabus

During the final classes, the participants will take a post-test to determine their gains in English ability and knowledge of project management, HIV/AIDS, and gender equity.  They will also learn a little about Obama and MLK, as per their request! Here is the curriculum:

Introduction Unit – November 17^th to December 17^th

• Introduction, Registration, Pretest, Needs Assessment
• Phonetics and Grammar
• Everyday Life: Family, Sports, and Food
• Education and Leadership

International Development Unit – January 26^th to February 11^th

• International Development and North/South Politics
• Global Food Crisis and the Fight against Poverty
• Environment and Sustainable Development

Community Development Unit – February 16^th to March 4^th

• Strategic Planning, Project Management, and Monitoring & Evaluation
• Agriculture and Rural Development
• Community Development Strategies

Human Rights and Health Unit – March 18^th to 30^th

• Human Rights, Peacekeeping, and International Security
• Gender Issues and Violence against Women and Children
• Public Health and Health Education: HIV/AIDS and Malaria

Business Unit – April 1^st – 13^th

• Finance and Economics
• Business Reporting
• Telecommunications

Final Classes – April 27^th – 29^th

• Posttest and Course Evaluation
• Historic African-Americans: Barack Obama & Martin Luther King Jr.

The Participants

The participants in the course come from a wide array of professions and backgrounds.  There are nonprofit professionals of all types, in-service and pre-service schoolteachers, merchants, journalists, soldiers, policemen, healthcare professionals, restaurateurs, and businesspeople, all collaborating and learning about one another’s occupations in English.  It has made for a lively and diverse learning environment.   Here is a selection of the sectors and the workplaces that are represented in the class:

Rural and Agricultural Development Organizations

• Agence Nationale de Conseil Agricole et Rural – National Agricultural and Rural Advisory Council
• Conseil Régional de Concertation et de Coopération des Ruraux – Regional Council for Coordination and Cooperation in Rural Communities
• Direction Régional du Développement Rural – Regional Rural Development Board

Public Services

• Centre de Santé de Fatick – Fatick Health Center
• Gendarmerie – Regional Guard
• Commissariat de Police – Fatick Police Department
• Gendarmerie Nationale – National Guard (Armed Forces)

Community Development Organizations

• Femmes Enfance Environnement – Women Children Environment
• Agence Régionale de Développement de Fatick – Fatick Regional Development Agency
• Groupement d’Étude, de Recherche et d’Aide à la Décision – The Group for Study, Research, and Decision-Making
• Service Régional Planification – Regional Planning Service

Education

• Inspection Départementale de l’Éducation Nationale – Departmental Inspection Office of National Education
• Ecole Thiagoune Ndiaye – Thiagoune Ndiaye Elementary School
• Ecole Ngor Ndame Ndiaye – Ngor Ndame Ndiaye Elementary School

Communications

• Société Nationale des Télécommunications du Sénégal – SONATEL, the largest telecommunications company in Senegal
• Walf TV – A privately owned television network in Senegal
• Radiodiffusion Télévision Sénégalaise 1 – RTS1, the largest Senegalese public broadcast station

The Method

Most everyone who attends the “Cours de Formation en Anglais” speaks fluent French (except me!), and the French language, as you may or may not know, is often an exacting and formal language.  Here in Senegal, it is taught to schoolchildren with a focus on precision, accuracy, and grammar.  This stands in sharp contrast to the English I am teaching, professional as it may be.  So I have had to ask the participants to break their habit of immediately correcting any and all “mistakes,” which is what was done when they learned French, and to “just speak English.” That is, to let some of the mispronunciations and errors fix themselves over time, as comprehension increases.  For the first few sessions, many people would not speak out loud for fear of making a mistake.  But then, I reminded them of the class motto: “Le Lion, il a peur de rien” – “The Lion is Afraid of Nothing.” Everyone has gotten on board with this idea, and now the participants encourage one another to speak as much English as possible, with or without some errors.

This method, where people are encouraged to speak as much as possible and let errors fix themselves as comprehension increases, is called the “communicative approach” to teaching English.  I believe it is a very appropriate way to help my students improve in using Anglais, because most of them can read English with some proficiency; what they need is to learn how to speak English, and this is precisely what the communicative approach is best at doing – helping people learn to speak a language.  I have chosen to teach this way because it is the recommended methodology for the teachers of English in the public schools of Senegal.  It is a very collaborative style of teaching and learning, and with a large class in a small place, it is very important that the participants cooperate with one another, because I am not able to give each participant a lot of time individually.  Those who have stronger English skills help those who do not, and part of each class session is spent in small groups, reviewing presented materials or performing various learning activities.

The Results so far. . .

Teaching is the easiest thing in the world when you have good students.  When your job is just to show up with some relevant and useful information and your fluency – and the students really just teach themselves – there is no finer work in the world than teaching.  I can promise you that.

Teaching this course has proven to be a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.  I really enjoy the classes because the participants are very enthusiastic about learning and very grateful for the opportunity to build their English-speaking skills.  I also take pride in the fact that long after I have left Fatick, the professionals and teachers that are participating in the course will use their English skills to help improve the nonprofit, education, and public service sectors in the Fatick Region, and maybe even the nation of Senegal on the whole.

Please do not get me wrong: “Cours de Formation en Anglais” has also proven to be a training course for me.  For each class session, I am forced to research and translate a lot of information for the topics to be covered.  I am not just teaching; I am learning French too, and this is how I have presented the class to the participants – as an exchange among learners.  They help me and I help them.  It has made for a wonderful arrangement.