When this notoriously busy woman was asked why she decided to enroll in this program, she describes that “I've always been interested in languages, and I thought that having the skills to teach English would be a good complement to the kind of work I was doing.” Of her experiences within the program, Bequie states that it gave her many concrete skills, including, she adds, an understanding of English grammar! In addition to these specific language skills, the ESL TCP was “an opportunity to make a lot of great connections with other instructors and people in the EAL field. Ultimately,” she concludes, “I'm now working with some of the people who helped teach our program.”
Where is Bequie now? She continues to don her numerous hats every morning, and is teaching both in an introductory, drop-in ESL program at the UFCW Training Centre, and has also played an indispensable role in the design and delivery of the University Preparation Program run through English for Specific Purposes, which gives immigrants and refugees the opportunity to develop the skills required for success in a post-secondary environment.
Of her work within these programs, Bequie identifies it as “challenging, inspiring, humbling and ultimately wonderful. It is amazing to work with such a diverse group of students. All of them bring a high level of expertise and knowledge to our classes - whether that comes from advanced education in their home countries, or their life experience. It's a big responsibility - as an instructor, I feel very conscious of how valuable the time that newcomers invest in their language classes is - but it is very rewarding.”
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