Report on Archdiocesan Spoken English Course 2022

 Report on Archdiocesan Spoken English Course -2022

(17^th April to 10^th May 2022)

Every year the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar organizes Archdiocesan Spoken English Course at pethapur for the students who have completed their 10^th and 12^th standard. This year too, we had an English camp from 17^th April to 10^th May 2022. There were 71 students, who took part in it among whom there were 39 boys and 32 girls from different parishes of the Archdiocese. The course was inaugurated with the Solemn Eucharistic Celebration by His Grace Archbishop Thomas Macwan. Rev. Fr. Xavier James, the coordinator and the youth director of the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar, Fr. Victor, Fr. Sushil, Fr. Roydan, and Fr. Deepak were the con-celebrants who prayed for the students to do their English Course well. There was an entrance test to find out the level and ability of the students based on which the students were divided into three groups. The three groups were named St. Benedict, St. John Paul II, and St. Francis of Assisi.

Under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Xavier James, Fr. Deepak, Fr. Roydan, Br. Donald Remi, Br. Pakiyaraj, and Br. Sugesh were the teaching staff. Br. Ankur Patel and Br. Rakesh Kumar were the non-teaching staff. Each class was taken care by two members, who rendered their selfless services to the students and helped them to gain English knowledge through various activities in English. There were five classes held each day for learning basic English Grammar. Every day there was a Eucharistic celebration for the students and all the students actively participated in the liturgical activities. They began their day with the Morning Prayer followed by the Holy Eucharist to nourish their spiritual hunger. After the breakfast students rendered their service to keep JVK clean and tidy. Having finished their cleaning, they got ready for their classes.

In the afternoon, there were faith formation classes for all the students, in which various topics on the Holy Bible, Sacraments, Holy Eucharist, etc. were taught, which helped students to deepen their faith in Jesus. Students also showed a keen interest in learning the Bible. Rev. Fr. Xavier James, Fr. Deepak, Fr. Valerian Pereira, Miss. Gauravi Xavier and Br. Donald took the faith formation classes. Fathers and Brothers sowed the seeds among the children by sharing about their vocation, and their call to follow Christ, which inspired the students.

To build the self-confidence of students, every alternative day, we had creative cultural programmes. It helped the students to identify their hidden talents and to get rid of their stage fear by performing creative skits and action songs. Once in five days, an English test was conducted to check their progress. To keep them mentally and physically fit sports were given importance. They had outings on 24^th April and 1^st May, where they relaxed and enjoyed togetherness with each other. The atmosphere was made very favorable to speak only in English. The medium of language for communication and prayers was only English. To be well-grounded in the English language, special attention was given to the weaker students. They worked hard and made a lot of effort to speak in English. The course came to an end with the Eucharistic celebration before which there was a colorful cultural programme on the previous evening which was witnessed by His Grace Archbishop Thomas Macwan, Fathers, sister, brothers, and the students themselves. We also thank all the fathers and sisters from various parishes in the Archdiocese of Gandhinagar for sending the children for this Archdiocesan Spoken English Course. (Br. Donald Remi)