School administrators in Powell River are banking on another kind of immersion to fill their language school classrooms: community immersion.
Wendy Thomas, an instructor at Vancouver Island University (VIU) who teaches adult basic education classes and English as a second language at the Powell River campus, has decided a change is in order. To better meet the needs of the international students at the school, she has teamed up with Rachelle Warman, owner of Westwind Learning Centre.
Up until now international students at VIU Powell River were placed in the English Academic Skills Education (EASE) program, which helped international students, often who had completed Canadian high school, prepare to attend a Canadian university.
“It would give them a year to help them work on their English and study skills,” said Thomas. “Then they could move over to Nanaimo to go to university.”
But Thomas has found the students who come to Powell River and attend classes are not who she thought they would be.
“They are mostly mature students who come here for short-term study and are looking for language and cultural immersion,” said Thomas. After talking to Warman, the two decided to combine their efforts.
“We had been running this program called Volunteer Employment Placement and over the past three years I have found that it has been a real draw,” said Warman. “Students who come here and get really actively involved say they feel like they’re welcomed and part of the community.”
So VIU hired Warman and she and Thomas started developing a program that better fits the needs of adult students who come to Powell River. Language school sessions are shorter at six weeks each. They will get the students volunteering throughout the community in a variety of places from Assumption School to the dog kennels. They hope that they can grow their program from five students currently up to a full cohort of 16.
Harumi Nakahayashi, 60, has been learning English since 2004 and came to Powell River in September to study English at VIU. She likes the community so much that she’s decided to stay on until June.
“Day by day I have begun to be an energetic person,” said Nakahayashi. She takes daily classes in English and other academic subjects. She’s currently looking to teach a class in Aikido and hoping to recruit VIU students. Plus, she is starting to learn square dancing.
“She’ll do anything,” said Thomas. “She went to Whistler and did zip-lining. She’s amazing.”
“I’m just curious,” said Nakahayashi.
