{"id":22472,"date":"2022-04-07T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-07T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=22472"},"modified":"2022-03-31T12:07:47","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T19:07:47","slug":"panamanian-students-study-english-at-camosun-in-new-joint-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2022\/04\/07\/panamanian-students-study-english-at-camosun-in-new-joint-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Panamanian students study English at Camosun in new joint program"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a part of an eight-month language development program carried out jointly with universities and colleges in Panama, 14 high-achieving international students have been studying at Camosun College since October.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The main goal of the Instituto para la Formaci\u00f3n y Aprovechamiento de Recursos Humanos (IFARHU) program, says Camosun International projects and partnerships associate director Marius Langeland, is to provide skills the students can use to bolster Panama\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of potential, a lot of focus on bilingual education and using English as a tool for economic prosperity,\u201d says Langeland. \u201cIf you\u2019re bilingual, and you pick up some of the teaching methodologies and learning strategies that we employ here in Canada, that can be very beneficial for the students back home, in bringing in a different way of learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

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14 students from Panama have been studying at Camosun since October (photo by Camosun College A\/V Services).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rather than keep the students as an isolated group, Camosun has incorporated them into the English Language Development (ELD) stream. Langeland says that this creates a more holistic experience for the students who are here from Panama.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of grouping them together as one cohort with very limited interaction with other students, we decided to treat them as regular ELD students,\u201d he says. \u201cThey absolutely love it, the opportunities this has afforded them to interact with other students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panamanian student Carlos Diaz says that the opportunity to study in Canada allows him to help people who are struggling back in his own country.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It means a lot], not only for the impact that it\u2019s directly having in my life as of now, but how it can also impact people from my social status, people who live nearby me,\u201d he says. \u201cCanada is one of the best countries in the world, and Panama not that much, so we are learning special skills, not just about the lessons that are being taught here, but also about the way it\u2019s socially organized, the way that we can impart methodologies, and all those details will help us to be professionals who can actually have an impact on those who surround us, as of now in our communities, and in the future as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Diaz wants to be an English professor, and he says that Camosun instructors have been more than happy to share their methods with him, such as setting achievable goals and understanding students\u2019 strengths and limitations.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though we all are adults, we all have some lags, as well as some extra powers, too, but being able to identify all those weaknesses and improve them, and help the students get the best out of it, are the ways that I first think that I want to implement when I get to be a professor in my country,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One unexpected aspect of the program is the opportunity to participate in cultural activities such as whale watching, which took Diaz by surprise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they first told us that the university was going to be involved with all of this intercultural exchange and growing, it was just fantastic,\u201d he says. \u201cWe went crazy, you know? For us, it was like, hey, are they really going to do this for us? They are going far and beyond for us to have the best experience possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Langeland is happy with how well the students have integrated into the Camosun and Victoria communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly lucky to have them here,\u201d he says. \u201cThey contribute so much to the classroom and also beyond in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Diaz and his colleagues, the experience has been one of generosity and acceptance, which will leave a lasting impact upon their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a group, we just feel grateful, not only for the opportunity itself, which is definitely huge, but also for the way… people have treated us here,\u201d he says. \u201cEven when we come from not the best country, everybody has been kind and supporting with us. It\u2019s been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a part of an eight-month language development program carried out jointly with universities and colleges in Panama, 14 high-achieving international students have been studying at Camosun College since October.\u00a0 The main goal of the Instituto para la Formaci\u00f3n y Aprovechamiento de Recursos Humanos (IFARHU) program, says Camosun International projects and partnerships associate director Marius […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,267],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-april-6-2022"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22473,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22472\/revisions\/22473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}