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 Home  Latest News VOA Interview of Indian EFL Teachers
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VOA Interview of Indian EFL Teachers |
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Teachers from Bangladesh and India participated in a five week
intensive English Language Institute conducted at Hamline University
and neighboring middle schools in Minnesota, USA. During the final
week of their trip, they visited Washington and discussed their
experience with the Bangla Service of the Voice of America. This is
the transcript of interviews with teachers from Bangladesh. The
interviews are also available online in Real Audio and MP3 formats.
 
Interviewer: Some of the teachers from West Bengal recently visited the United States and among them, three are in the studio: Kuheli Mukharjee, Anup Kumer Ghosh, Manish Panda. Now we will talk with them about their experience in the US. Kuheli Mukherjee, you are from Kolkata. Could you please tell which school you are from and where you have visited in the United States and your experiences here?
Khuheli: I work with Begum Rokeya Memorial Girls High School and teach English as second language. We have been in the US under a program organized by Hamline University and Relief International, an NGO. The name of the program is East India-Bangladesh English as a Foreign Language Program. By attending the program, we have acquired knowledge about the methods that we could utilize to teach English as a second language and how to apply communicative approach in class so students can be benefited. And on return home we will work as a resource person. At Hamline University, a platform called blackboard has been developed and through this platform we will be able to keep in touch with the teachers involved with the program using email and later on, we can teach our colleagues our new methodologies.
Interviewer: Thanks Kuheli... Now I would ask Mr Anup Kumer Ghosh. You are a teacher of Baliganj Government High School. We would like to learn about your experience.
Anup: At first, I would like to say that West Bengal is prominent State in applying communicative language teaching methodology. Dr. N. S. Pravu used this kind of methodology in the Bangalore Project, and West Bengal has also adopted this methodology long ago. At Hamline University we have learned theoretical aspects and at the middle school, we have learned practical aspects of the methods. I have noticed the application of theory and practice. I think these teaching methods will be very useful for students when I will use them in my class in the West Bengal.
For example, I have seen how technology can be used for teaching English. They organize field trips. And we have seen how little kids speak in classes. This is also very essential in the West Bengal. In this age of globalization, we can’t go on without English and communication appears as a big issue. And, in this age of science and technology, we can show our kids how they can express themselves properly using word-specific topics. We can apply this method in so many ways.
Interviewer: Thank you, Anup Omar Ghosh. Now we would like to learn about experience from Mr. Manish Panda. You have visited many places and schools and talked with the teachers and students, so what is your experience?
 Monish: Namushkar. I teach in the Chandannagor school, and I had opportunity to see teaching style and also I taught in the Roseville Middle School in Minnesota. I spent three weeks with an American family in Minnesota. During my stay in Hamline I met and talked to many people. My understanding, as Koheli points out, the other important objective of this program was cultural exchange. We, the people of West Bengal, believe that with the emergence of globalization, this cultural exchange has already started. Because, if you ask Bengali man who is best poet in the world now, they will say "Alan Ginsburg". They love to sing Seeger and Bob Dillon's music. We also sing "we shall overcome" and ‘kotota poth perole take pothik bola jai’ [How many roads must a man walk down]. Through this sort of exchange, I feel that we have never had so many cultural differences - we just live far from each other, geographically. We have got this opportunity through the Hamline University and Relief International, and we also thank the United States Department of State. We have been able to be together. We have a new realization about ourselves through this exchange project.
Interviewer: Thank you Monish Panda. Now I want to go back again to Kuheli Mukharjee: you are working with Begum Rokeya Memorial Girls High School which was established by Begum Rokeya Shakhawat Hussain in memory of her husband and which is a very famous school. Could you please tell briefly about this school? In the two Bengals (West Bengal and Bangladesh), there are lots of famous women who were students of this school.
Kuheli: Yes you are right. Shakwat Memorial School is really very famous and Begum Rokeya is a also beloved to us. We always remember her as a pioneer in promoting women's education. The current government of West Bengal has again established another public school under her name and the name of the school is Begum Rokeya Memorial School which is situated in the Salt Lake City. This is a quite new school established just 5 years ago. Our government has established and named the school to show our respect to her.
Interviewer: Now I would like to turn to Anup Kumar Ghosh. Could you please tell us briefly about your school?
 Anup: Baliganj Government High School was established in 1927, if I want to talk about this school, first I need to mention the world-famous film maker and director Satayajit Roy who was our student. Shomvo Mitra was also our student. He was prominent director of Tagore’s drama. There is a lot to say about Satayajit – I just would like to say that I'm very proud that I teach there. I also got to know from one of my teacher friends from Bangladesh that F.R. Khan (Fazlur Rahman Khan), the greatest architect, was passed from our school.
Interviewer: Thank you Anup Komar Ghosh. Finally I would like to go back to Monish Panda. Your school is Chandannagar Bangobidyalaya. Could you tell briefly about the school?
Monish: Certainly. Chandannagar Bangobidyalaya was established in 1881. When the efforst to expand the Bengali education was initiated in the former Bengal, then with the support of Bidashagor [Iswarchandra], some Bengali schools were established in West Bengal. One of these schools is Chandannagar Bangobidyala. Besides, Chandannagar was a significant place for the revolution [against the then colonial British Empire]. Some of the revolutionaries who were involved in the attack to the Chittagong Armory [a British colonial arms depot in modern day Bangladesh] took shelter in Chandannagar. Some of these armed revolutionists including Bashanto Kumar were involved in setting up this school.
Interviewer: Thanks everyone, Monish Panda, Anup Kumar Ghosh and Kuheli Mukherjee. |
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