The English teachers ’conference of M’de

‘‘I learned everything in English at the University of Comoros: grammar, vocabulary, translation, etc., but I was not able to effectively communicate in English’’ said Halima Miradji, the secretary general of the Comoros English Teachers Association (CETA). Halima attended English conversation clubs coordinated by Mr. and Mrs. Bransford respectively papa and mama Liva from Groupe Service Volontaire (GSV) which joyfully serves the Comoros Islands since 2000. She has become an English teacher after hard work and suggested the participants at the annual English teachers’ conference to never give up. ‘‘I teach American citizens the Comorian language (Shingazidja dialect) and interact with them. I got a job at the American Peace Corps and travelled to the US’’ Halima proudly said.

Miradji Bacar is the CETA coordinator. He had the opportunity to give a presentation about his association at the conference. According to Miradji, CETA’s goal is to improve English language and communication skills for teachers in order to enhance students’ English competence. His organization works in partnership with ‘‘Yes We Can’’ association located at the American Corner in Moroni. The English teachers’ conference was set up in 2010 and aimed to help teachers sharing and exchanging ideas to become effective teachers in Comoros. The 7^th annual teachers’ conference was held on 11^th and 12^th March, 2017 in the city of M’de. It was divided in eight sessions. As its slogan suggests ‘‘bringing your creativity to the table’’, some teachers and trainers were invited to show, demonstrate and share their creative ideas.    

Mahamoud Ahmed Mze is the founder of the American English Training Center (AETC) located in Moroni. He had to conduct a session on Day two. His job was to share ideas on how to integrate the four language skills in terms of teaching. Mahamoud thinks that teaching is a two ways process. ‘‘You give and the student gets, the student gives and the teacher gets’’ he said. He technically explained that the four skills of learning can be divided in input and output. What the learner hears and reads is called an input and what s/he says and writes is an output. ‘‘When it comes to teach vocabulary, one can use many ways except translation which is a bad way because the learner will retain the translated word rather than the English word ’’ Mahamoud believes. He concluded that teaching can be divided in listening, speaking, writing and reading distinct activities for a class and a feedback from learners is necessary to make an interactive class interesting.

Giraud Tatako is a Peace Corps member. She teaches English at the English Department of the University of Comoros. She thinks a teacher should believe in himself and try to do what s/he wants to succeed. ‘‘You need to have a good rapport with your students, show your passion for teaching and your students will learn the best’’ Mrs. Giraud stated. She strongly believes that a teacher is not a good teacher if s/he does not learn something especially from the students. Ahamada M’madi, an English teacher wanted to know what to do if the class does not understand a lesson. Chamsia Ibrahim, a participant, suggested revising the last lesson the students have learned if the present lesson does not work. Mr. Bransford urged Ahamada not to repeat the same activity every time. He advised him to think and create activities such as song, game, etc. in order to make the class less boring.   

Another creative idea session was conducted by Janette Hughes, a GSV member in Grande Comore. It was about how to improve English pronunciation. She shared the idea that a better understanding of pronunciation leads to less confusion, especially during conversation. As there are different accents in English language, Mrs. Hughes suggested the learner to know what s/he wants to sound like or what accent s/he wants to have. She also warned the learners to be careful not to make mistakes on some trouble words such as refuse and desert which may have different meanings depending on the syllable one focuses on. She also gave another example with ‘‘ough’’ says in the words through, though and enough which are quite different in terms of pronunciation. The GSV presenter concluded her session by suggesting the audience to subscribe to some good interactive English websites for adults to learn English and practice pronunciation such as Babbel, BBC Learning English, Duolingo, English Central, to name but a few.

In her GSV address on Day one, Rebekah Bransford gave some tips on how to improve the teaching methods by using some Shingazidja proverbs. First, ‘‘Hutsaha sha mvuvuni hunyama’’ i.e. if you want something under the bed, you have to get in. Thus, she advised to plan lessons well, to keep learning as a teacher and research new materials as well. Second, ‘‘Eyadaza ngenazo hamba’’ which literally means ‘‘who is quite, has something to say.’’ Mrs. Bransford urged teachers to help all students to participate and talk. ‘‘When you ask them a question, give them more time to think before answering the question’’ she said.  Third, ‘‘mwenda hampbapvi tsirewe’’ i.e. who walks slowly is not necessarily a handicapped person. Therefore, she recommended instructors to repeat a lot and show things slowly. Mama Liva concluded her speech by another Shingazidja say ‘‘hayina ndrongowo ngizona mwiso’’ that means everything has an end.

Zakaria Maoulida is a University of Comoros alumnus. He had studied Tourism and Foreign Language at LEA (Langues Étrangères Appliquées) department. He is the co-founder of AETC with his friend Mahamoud. He works for Peace Corps in Comoros. ‘‘You can learn English in Comoros and make your dream come true’’ he said. His main job at Peace Corps is to train American volunteers how to teach English in Comoros. ‘What you are as a teacher is more important than what you teach’’ Zakaria said in his keynote address.

Chami Mouzawar

Contributing writer