Posted on 04/24/2008 4:44:36 PM PDT by SandRat
HILLAH — An English Day program at the regional embassy office in al-Hillah gave 25 students and 15 staff and faculty members from Babil province a chance to hone their English skills on April 19.
Five students from five different schools, two English teachers from those schools, the director general for education and other representatives from the department of education took advantage of the interaction with the Babil provincial reconstruction team and the 411th Civil Affairs Battalion.
“I think it was as positive of an interaction for us on our side as it is for them,” said Kim Sonn, public diplomacy officer with the PRT. “I think it was an excellent public diplomacy opportunity to be able to combine education with presenting a positive image of America.
“The young people don’t get to interact with the Soldiers very much,” she said. “It presents a different side to the U.S. military that can only benefit us in the long run. It goes a long way to winning hearts and minds.”
The program kicked off with a morning seminar for the English teachers, who teach secondary school, with PRT representatives.
“Teachers play one of the most important roles in society; they are the role models for students,” said Ken Hillas, PRT leader.
The instructors expressed a desire to improve their English in order to teach their students better.
“Teaching is hard work; it needs patience and it needs love,” said one Iraqi English teacher who has been in the profession for 38 years.
During the morning seminar, Lt. Col. Mark Yanway, PRT deputy team leader, discussed the importance of using language in context, ensuring the instructors are teaching what students need to know. After his class the teachers contributed some of their own ideas.
“Most of our contacts in the education field are constantly telling us of the need to develop language skills, especially in the teaching of English,” Sonn said. “We have been told that curriculum development is lagging in Iraq and they’re always looking for new ideas and new ways of teaching English … as we’re native English speakers, that’s one (where) we really have an expertise that we can help pass on.”
After the morning seminar, the students arrived and the fun began … playing games that demanded they speak in English.
The students took advantage of the games that gave them an opportunity to interact with the Americans, asking questions such as what their names were, where they were from and how old they were.
“I think the kids had a really good time; they were very advanced and some of them were even from gifted schools so they had very good English skills to begin with,” Sonn said. “I think for the kids it was somewhat of a learning experience to practice their language skills with native speakers and to interact with Americans in a really positive way.”
(4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division)
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