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The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Future teachers of Panama graduate program at SLU

    Students from Panama dance during Fais Do Do, while wearing traditional Panamanian
    clothing. These students are now graduates of the Panamá Bilingüe Program,
    a program at Southeastern that instructs teachers of Panama in English for four months
    each semester. 
    Le Souvenir / Kelonda Dixon

    Each semester a group of Panamanian teachers become students of English at the university. Students take courses in English that include reading, listening, grammar and vocabulary courses.

    On Friday, May 6 this semester’s participants of the Panamá Bilingüe Program graduated in the Alumni Center at 10 a.m. The ceremony opened with the Panamanain national anthem, “Himno Istmeño,” followed by the “Star Spangled Banner.”

    The Panamá Bilingüe Program started in January 2015. Program coordinator Rose Rogers describes the beginning of the program as “very hectic.” 

    “It was figuring out every little detail,” said Rogers. “Each time you learn something different, like different ways to set up classrooms and teach.”

    According to Rogers, Panama Bilingüe participants who spoke English well were taught methodology. This semester, students were broken into three groups based on their skill levels: level one (beginner), level two (intermediate) and level two a (intermediate two). Throughout the difficulties of the program, students kept positive attitudes.

    “They don’t really tell you the level of English that each student has, so you can’t really plan for it,” said Rogers. “They make it so easy because they’re always so fun and happy. Seeing how hard they work is inspiring, it’s the most frustrating thing in the world to not know something.”

    The Panamá Bilingüe Program lasts for four months. It begins with an orientation and ends with the graduation ceremony. During the course of the program, students take classes Monday through Friday every week. According to Rogers, they also get about three hours of tutoring a week and use Mango, “an interactive learning program to learn English.”

    Senior English education major and student worker for the Panamá Bilingüe Emily Nodine is a tutor for participants. According to Nodine, she helps students with homework and English concepts during the hour long sessions that take place multiple times a week. 

    “I loved working with this program,” said Nodine. “This is what I want to do long term, travel and teach English in other countries, so this was preparation for that.”

    According to the Director of the Panamá Bilingüe Program and marketing Associate professor Dr. Tara Lopez, the program has developed as they learned how to host foreign students. 

     “I think we have learned what students need,” said Lopez. “When we first started, we didn’t realize the different backgrounds the students were coming from.”

    According to Lopez, classes like Consumer Behavior allow American students to gain international insight into trends of Panamanian culture like shopping and education.

    “The students bring a new perspective that helps Southeastern students learn about the lives of international students and how the world works outside of the United States,” said Lopez.

    Management and Business professor and director of the Hispanic Business Institute Dr. Aristides Baraya stated the importance of the Panamá Bilingüe Program.

    “It’s a culmination of something they really want,” said Baraya. “They are already teachers in Panama. They come here to learn English and also they are doing this for their country and they’re very proud of their country.”

    Panamá Bilingüe participant Elkin Miranda admits that at Southeastern, the professor’s pronunciation is better, which contributed to him learning more than he learned in Panamá. At the university, he learned more grammar, vocabulary, reading and speaking to prepare him more for his job as a teacher.

    “For me, English is very important,” said Miranda. “I take the course at Southeastern and it is very important in my life and my future job. I’m a teacher, so in the future I will teach English to children in Panama.”

    Another student in the program Melissa Ceitu, also realized the importance of learning English when the president of Panama expressed hopes of Panamanian children becoming bilingual. For Ceitu, her favorite moment of the program occurred at the very beginning of her arrival.

    “When we got the I.D. from Southeastern, it was my favorite moment,” said Ceitu. “We started the new stage to knowledge and new experiences.”

    Rogers admits that by the end of the semester, her and the students have grown. 

    “It’s always very bittersweet in the end,” said Rogers. “My Spanish gets better, their English gets better and then they leave.”

    According to Rogers, some student workers are education majors and some contacted the foreign language department.

    “We looked for students who could speak Spanish and were recommended from other professors,” said Rogers.

    For more information on the Panamá Bilingüe Program, contact Rogers at [email protected].

    The Panamá Bilingüe Program held a graduation in the Alumni Center on Friday, May 6.
    The emotional ceremony was confirmation of four months of courses in English
    that included reading, listening, grammar and vocabulary courses.
    The Lion's Roar / Larshell Green

     

     

     

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