Happy New Years to you all. I have had the best part of two weeks holiday off from work. It was the first time I have had a real break since May and I have really enjoyed it. 2014 was an important year for us. In fact, last Sunday (07/01/14) marked the one year anniversary that my fiancé and I moved in together. We have spent every one of those days and nights with each other. It was also the year that I got the job at the university. The year I finally gained my confidence with Spanish. The year I started to write this blog, the year we got Spikeysorus and I am sure many more important things I have forgotten to mention. But I’m going to look ahead to 2015 with this post, and for my first post of the New Year I have news about something special I am hoping to achieve.
We (as in my fiancé, some friends and I) are going to be opening our very own language institute! It is called Windsor Languages, and although primarily we will be focusing on English very soon we will be offering classes in French. We have the capacity for seven classrooms and have been planning every detail for months. There are several language institutes already here in Machala, and the truth is that some of them have a few very good teachers. But, the sad reality is that there just isn’t a quality language institute here. And the few good teachers there are only work within institutes that are very badly ran and that lack the proper resources. On top of that, these teachers are underpaid and undervalued. Add to that not all of the teachers are good, for example I worked at one of these institutes where my fellow non-native teachers didn’t have a sufficient English level for teaching and the English native speakers didn’t have the relevant experience or training. These institutes, as with so many others are run under the facade of education. Lying to students and parents about course structure and outcomes. What makes me so angry is that continue to get away with it.
As well as continuing to work at the university, every evening and weekend I will be at Windsor. No business is guaranteed success, but I can’t help but feel optimistic. Machala is crying out for this institute. A growing number of students are making six hour round trips every weekend to study English in different cities; as the level of teaching here is so poor. That has to change! This is has been a long term goal of mine for quite some time and I feel very passionate about it as I’ve seen with my own eyes students being taken advantage of. I want to make an institute that puts the quality of its teaching above all us. An institute ran by language teaching professionals. An institute that only hires the best teachers who have international recognised certifications in English. An institute that is open and accountable. Where students will have to pass independent exams in order to progress through our course and will graduate with international and domestically certified qualifications. I want to give Machala the English institute it needs and deserves.
This is my aim for 2015. For Windsor Languages to become successful here in Machala. I feel kind of excited sharing it with you. I want it to be known as the institute to go to if you want to seriously learn a language. We want to with time and when we have the appropriate resources bring native speakers from other countries to teach at our institute. We also want to offer language exchange programs, where by our students can spend time in English native speaking countries, all of this we have in the pipeline. 2015 is potentially going to be the busiest year of my life, but hopefully the most successful. I really look forward to keep you updated with its progress.
Hasta luego
P.s. I read and write more in Spanish than I do in English. Add to that also I have no advanced classes at the moment! It’s lovely writing in English, it feels like walking after having worn roller-skates. But: I; am, -out _ of¡ practice. With “ punctuation! So apologies for that.
mattinecuador 