Report of Archdiocesan Spoken English Course

The Report of Spoken English Course at Pethapur

30^th March to 16^th April, 2016

The Spoken English Course for the year 2016 was organized by Archdiocese of Gandhinagar from 30^th March to 16^th April for the students who have just completed their 10^th and 12^th Standard.  There were 54 students, 35 boys and 19 girls from 10 different Parishes of the Archdiocese.  The Course was inaugurated with the lighting of the lamp followed by the celebration of the Holy Eucharist by His Grace Thomas Macwan. An Entrance test was conducted to check each student’s English and they were divided into three classes according to their performance.  The three groups were named as St. John, St. Luke, and St. Mark.   There were five Brothers and a Sister under the inspiring leadership of Fr. Xavier James, the coordinator of the programme. 

The students began the day with the Morning Prayer and the Holy Eucharist. They had five classes per day for learning Basic English Grammar.  To make learning more interesting and informal, the students were introduced into audio visual learning.  Apart from learning English, much importance was given to the spiritual life and Christian values. They had singing practice and the recitation of the Holy Rosary in the evening where they took active part in praising and thanking the Lord.  They had faith formation class in the afternoon. With the keen interest of Fr. Xavier James the students were taught about the Holy Bible, Sacraments, Eucharist, and the Preamble of Indian Constitution etc…which would help them in the long run to live their Christian values.

Cultural programme in the evening was part of the curriculum.   It was a good opportunity for each and every student to express himself or herself on the stage and it was a motivating force to develop their confidence in learning English. To create interest for the language some appropriate English movies and to instill Christian values some biblical movies were shown to them.  Every Sunday, weekend test was taken to check the progress of the students.  The evening time was allotted for sports and games.  On 10^th April they had an outing to where students relaxed and enjoyed togetherness with each other’s company. 

Atmosphere was created in the house for the students to speak only in English.  The medium of language for prayers, Holy Eucharist and cultural programme was English.  The students were encouraged by the Fathers, Brothers and Sisters to communicate only in English.  The course was fruitful.  It was seen in the students who really worked hard and made a lot of effort to speak in English.  The course came into the conclusion with a colourful cultural evening which was witnessed by Archbishop Thomas, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers and the students themselves.  The programme was well prepared with the help of Brothers and Sisters.  Everyone who was present there enjoyed the programme and appreciated the students for their wonderful performance. Thereafter with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist the course was concluded and most of them left the house in tears because they had lived as the members of one family. 

Deacon Kingslin

Date: 16^th April, 2016