Photo By Staff Sgt. Evan Lane | Staff Sgt. Carol McManis (center) and her class pose for a picture before returning to...... read more read more
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Adile Isafi and Emin Bajrami want what most people want: a good future for themselves and their country. And with help from soldiers from Camp Bondsteel, they are achieving that future. Every Tuesday and Thursday, soldiers spend their day off chatting with Adile and Emin, along with over 100 other students, preparing them for the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
KFOR soldiers began hosting free English courses in 2007 in cooperation with Next Steps of Youth, a local non-governmental organization, said Naim Bajrami, the Task Force Aviation translator and liaison to the schools participating in the classes.
The ultimate goal of the program, said Naim, is to prepare the students to do well on the TOEFL, an admissions requirement for most English-speaking universities.
“I want to study in America,” said Adile, who said she plans on attending a university in either Iowa or Kansas. “I’m going to become a surgeon and come back to Kosovo to help my country.”
Adile taught herself Spanish through telenovelas, Spanish-language soap operas. Adile is applying that same determination to improve her English skills for the TOEFL.
The curriculum has grown over the years into a full-fledged program, augmenting English courses being taught in the Ferizaj and Gjilan schools. While attendance is free, it is available only to those who show interest and strong work ethic in their high school’s program. Teachers at the high schools nominate promising teens to attend the TOEFL preparatory program.
Classes in Ferizaj are held in the Cultural House. The large building is lent to the instructors twice a week by the Ferizaj municipality. Inside, several group tables are arranged by skill level, so each of the 120 students is placed in a smaller group discussion setting with their peers and a Task Force Aviation instructor. All students start at a beginners’-level table and progress as they get better.
Adile and Emin are both currently in an advanced class taught by Spc. Heath Wragge, a chaplain’s assistant from Heartwell, Neb., with Task Force Falcon.
“He keeps us laughing the whole time,” said Adile.
“He gives us the will to learn to more and more,” said Bajrami.
That positive environment was noticeable everywhere, with laughter pealing from all of the tables and smiles on each of the students’ faces. Those conversations are a large part of the success of the course, which has helped students obtain scholarships to English speaking schools in countries such as Belgium and America.
“I know former students now working at Camp Bondsteel as translators, working in government, studying abroad,” said Naim. “It’s all made possible by their language skills. We’re preparing these kids for their own futures.”
“They can all speak really well, but they still have to learn their adjectives and parts of speech so they can talk about random stuff and fill a conversation,” said Wragge. “The TOEFL is like the English portion of the ACT [American College Testing]. It’s tough!”
“The students are intense, though. They come in and they have a purpose. They know what they’re trying to do,” he continued, stating he finds the work rewarding.
Throughout the interview with Adile and Emin, they both conversed with a level of fluency that illustrated how productive their time with the Task Force Aviation instructor has been. Naim, while available for translation, was able to sit and listen as the two laughed and talked about their hopes.
“I’m going to go on to international relations,” said Emin. “I love English. I love everything about it. It’s in my blood.”
Emin said he wants to return to Kosovo after attending a university abroad, possibly to a position in Kosovo’s government.
“My father taught me that knowing a language is knowing a culture,” Naim said as he talked about the program’s successes.
With capable teenagers like Adile and Emin, the knowledge gained from Wragge and the other instructors will help them not only learn more about English-speaking cultures, but allow them to assist in creating brighter futures for themselves and their country.
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.22.2011 03:48 |
| Story ID: | 74117 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Web Views: | 300 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The gift of language: Army aviators teach English to local teens, by SSG Evan Lane, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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