Who is Johnny English?

My name is Haliyamutu John Fiacre, born in Rwanda in 1981 in the Southern Province. Americans and British call me “Johnny/John English” and many Rwandans call me “Teacher”. Everyone is right because teaching English is my passion. I even remember my father speaking a little English which was unusual as my entire country spoke only Kinyarwanda except for those who attended Secondary School who could speak French. In my early childhood, life was wonderful until I was sent to an excellent Primary School where everything was going to be taught in French. (All my brothers had attended there) My first burning memory was hiding under my desk in a protest.

Because of my obstinate protest, my parents switched me to our rural primary school - no more lights, no more water, no firewood. Fortunately for me, the head of the school spoke English because he had been an ambassador. We started greeting each other in English and I gratefully picked up a few words from my older sisters. I augmented my appetite for English in secondary school as was often staffed with English speaking priests from England or America and I spent much time reading, discussing with my teachers who spoke English and seeking out any English speaking person I could find. This countercultural phenomenon had its challenges, as this was in the pre-Genocide years and the English language was held in low regard.

After graduating from Secondary School, I served as a waiter in order to start purchasing English books for deepening my reading skills although some of them were beyond my knowledge. My hopes were disappointed once again in college when I found that the school where my parents sent me taught only in French and in fact there were no English courses at all. So I fled my hometown with my books and came to Kibungo town, a place that I had never visited and where I knew few people. Life was different from my comfortable home; I had nothing with me except English books, one change of clothes, and my faith; I couldn’t even afford a candle or lamp oil. Starved, strange, thin and homeless, I prevailed on my church for a place to stay and I began to sensitize people who were not motivated to learn English.

Four people finally came to my class as I had prevailed again upon a Director of Catholic schools near by to give me a room. It was 2004 and I was finally seeing my dream of teaching English happening before my eyes. I was happy beyond belief! These successful students were my first ambassadors in Kibungo town and my classes began to grow.

In 2006, I met Nancy McCue from the USA who came to work in Kibungo. She encouraged me and also connected me with other Americans. They have played an invaluable role in helping my English School. My dreams came true when I met Ben and Terri Ransom who have through their kindness supported my English School efforts with additional material and technological information. I kept improving my skills through these efforts with software and books that these Americans gave me and my progress is excellent. I have excelled in many TOEFL or IELTS tests on line.

Perhaps my strongest personal characteristic is my creative persistence in crafting an English Program for my students that will cause them to excel in this new generation in Rwanda. I am dedicated to serving humanity by offering them an exciting program of learning English - a language that will ensure that their future will be bright.

Impact on the Community

The school began in 2004 and has so far trained over 636 people who are using English in their daily job.

In 2004
We served 54 people: - Novice students = 15
- World Food Program staff from Ngoma District =5
- Ecole Technique Offielle de Kibungo (students) = 30
- Abizeramariya Sisters = 4

In 2005
We served 69 people:
- World Food Program staff from Ngoma District = 5
- Driving School = 30
- Abizeramariya Sisters = 4
- Other students = 30

In 2006
We served 185 people:
- World Food Program staff from Ngoma = 3
- Driving school = 40
- Abizeramariya nuns = 6
- APPEKA college = 120
- FINA BANK Kibungo = 6
- Gahurire Primary School teachers = 14
- Translated for a group of 6 Americans

In 2007
We served 119 people:
- FINA BANK Kibungo 6
- Students of University of Kibungo 20
- ATRACO Ngoma 24
- Students from Primary and Secondary school 60
- Translated for a group of Americans 8
- Translated for Elizabeth Adelski, a UN consultant for WFP

In 2008
We served 134 people:
- FINA BANK Kibungo 7
- Students from University of Kibungo 23
- ATRACO NGOMA (Travel agency) 14
- Rwamagana Lutheran School 10
- KIREHE District staff 40
- Partners In Health staff 20
- Kazo Primary School teachers 14
- Lutheran World Federation 4
- Intra Health: Twubakane 2

In 2009
We served 85 people:
- Partners In Health staff 20
- Gahurire Primary School teachers 20
- International Rescue Committee 10
- Partners In Health 35

Values

After reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The Purpose Driven Life and other wealthy books, the trainees are expected to:
-be successful in their relationships with other people. They know how to treat another person with respect and know how to earn respect from other people. They are the type of people who you find you want to be friends with.
- contribute positively to society by reaching beyond themselves out into their community. They get involved and help where they can.
- take responsibility for their actions. They try to fix any mistakes they make. They are capable of feeling a sense of accomplishment when they finish a task. People who do not have base values aren’t even able to feel good about doing something right.
- be capable of learning and growing socially, emotionally, spiritually and economically.
- be generally happier. They grab on to the best of what life has to offer them. They can see the light at the end of the tunnel when life gets tough.
- be creative and skilled in multidisciplinary fields.
- be truthful and honest.

Curriculum

The school aims at producing international English speakers and to achieve this principal goal, it mainly uses the Rosetta Stone level 1, 2, &3 and Cutting Edge from starter to advanced curriculum programs and many more other British or American materials. To be proven that every trainee is an international English speaker, he or she has to pass both TOEFL and IELTS before getting his / her certificate.

Teaching Method

Our dynamic immersion method uses thousands of real –life pictures and your own natural language learning ability to help you think in the new language.
The constant interaction with the program, and immediate feedback, you easily understand the spoken and written language and quickly develop your own speaking and writing skills.

Future Plan

The school’s future plan is to set up a language laboratory that will serve the community and expand its services to other regions.

Importance of English

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

English is an established international language and is becoming more and more predominating the World. Dominant and developing countries use it alike. It is used in key areas of science, technology and commerce. Although English is one of the official languages in our country and serves as a medium of instruction in our schools, Rwandans are having difficulty with the language. There are a great number of people desiring to learn English because of its importance in opening the windows to the World, unlocking doors to many opportunities for our country, and expanding our minds to new ideas.


THE PROBLEM OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN RWANDA

Rwanda is a trilingual country. This has an economic, social and political reason. However, the teaching of three languages from primary level has engendered brainteaser for teachers who have been in the system for many years and only speak one of the two international languages and most of them speak French, a reason why English language is a serious challenge in Rwanda. The majority of secondary schools use French and English while university education is expected to be bilingual, English and French. The few best schools produce bilingual graduates; the many average schools produce language-challenged students and they consequently perform poorly on their jobs.
French speaking Rwandans business people rely on translators and intermediaries.
Parliament uses three languages, Kinyarwanda, French, and English. MPs depend on a number of translators that do not always translate accurately legal texts from Kinyarwanda to English and French. Most conferences in Rwanda are now conducted in English requiring translators for Kinyarwanda and French and sometimes professionals are frustrated because translators do not always translate what is said.
A French speaking employee is always stressed by and bored with translation when he/she works with an English speaking employer. Many of these employees are unable to attend conferences that are in English and when they attend, they hardly understand what is said and can’t give reports to their superiors. How much money is spent in these conferences? Much money!
Most leaders still use French and it is not surprising that much information about leadership, good governance, health and many documents are published in English.
Rwanda has been now accepted in EAC; many Rwandans will not be able to compete with our neighbors who speak English.
Recently Rwanda has shifted from French to English and most of the population has a serious difficulty.

Our Services

We offer:
- Beginning, intermediate and advanced English language courses
- Children’s courses
- Training of Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) either iBT or
Paper TOEFL, Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC),
and International English Language Test System (IELTS)
- American Accent training: Develop your English communications skills for
Professional advancement and social situations.
- Electronic library: The greatest works of classic literature, action, adventure,
Education, philosophy, religion, theater and poetry… from Mark Twain to the Bible..
From Shakespeare to Charles Darwin…you’ll find it all in over 10,000 books
read to you loud in the Ultimate Library plus 17,000 books from Project Gutenberg,
Explore everything and everyone from our Encarta 2009: History, Geography, People
and Society, Science and Nature, Arts and Literature, Sports and Recreations, and
Encarta Kids.
- Business English: We offer beginning, intermediate and advanced business English
training.
- Educational consultancy: Quality in Education, Human Resources and
Administration in education, School leadership and Administration, and Classroom
Management
- Translation: With L&H Power Translator Pro and Globalink Power Translator Pro,
your work will shortly and well done
- Career Development: By identifying your values, skills and talents you will be able
to choose a happier profession and we will help you to ace your interviews.
- English Club

Mission, vision and objectives

MISSION

Our mission is to deliver the best technology-based solution for learning the English language. We seek to make the language learning experience fun, easy and most importantly effective. We teach at all levels focusing on primary, secondary and business applications.

VISION

Rancorp Services, (IELS) delivers, proven, effective and comprehensive solutions to learning the English language in Rwanda.

OBJECTIVES

Facilitating the student to:
-Communicate effectively in written and spoken English
-Understand spoken English around the world
-Pursue further studies based on their knowledge of the English language
-Integrate into multi-language speaking communities
-Assist Rwandans in competing with neighboring countries
-Become marketable and skilled in the workplace
-Become avid English speakers, readers, writers, and listeners
-Overcome insecurity when communicating in English

Johnny English with staff from International Rescue Committee (IRC) in classroom

Friends,

An exciting new "blog" has opened up to discuss International English Language School (IELS) information in Rwanda, Africa and chronical the teachings of "Johnny English".

Johnny English is in the process of developing a contemporary IELS in partnership with RanCorp Services. This school will possess modern teaching technologies and provide learning opportunities and certifications to a diversified student population.

As Johnny English begins to chronical his daily teachings he will stay focused on what is important and what sets his training apart from any other;

"We are dedicated to expanding our locations to better serve our communities... As we grow we want to provide language training and skills development to the areas of the world where other companies don't want to go (the forgotten people). We are going to bring our schools to those in need. It is always about educating at the grassroots level and empowering people to succeed."

Thank you for reading, may this blog be a blessing to all those that share in it. Where it goes from here is up to you.

Enjoy...

Ben Ransom
CEO, RanCorp Services