English Club Guide Book: A Contribution to Bilingualism in Gabon

By FOUTY-BE MOULEKA

This book will enable to link students from around the world (from French countries) by creating as many ENGLISH CLUBS as possible so that English Clubs become the accurate partner of Governement and International Education Organization promoting English. It contextualizes how English came to Gabon (History). And why is it so important to speak. It suggests a unique way to teach and learn English to both Students and teachers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jul 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781466989771

FOUTY-BE MOULEKA

FOUTY- BOULANGA MOULEKA , President Founder of NGO ENGLISH FOR TOURISM IN GABON. A Gabonese, born on February 14, 1985, in Mayumba. He is actually Thirty-one. He has a Bachelor degree in English, and a Master2 degree in Tourism ( Tourism Promoter). He graduated from the Departments of English and that of Anthropology in Omar Bongo University in Gabon. He has a deep interest in the promotion of English, the language that has ever accompanied him into his childhood dreams as well as Tourism. Now, he is an English and Tourism Lecturer at University level, an Independant Tourism Promoter and a singer as well. He is about to start a first year PhD Degree in Geo Tourism in Belgium at Liege Univetsity this year. He has written this book in order to help the managers of English clubs to attract more people in their English club. This book is a good tool to help everyone learn English so that Gabon can be efficiently bilingual within a few years. Use the book in English Club or individually. The book allowed us to set up NGO ETG (www.ong-etg.ga) for the promotion of English and tourism in Gabon.

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© Copyright 2013 FOUTY-BE MOULEKA.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

isbn: 978-1-4669-8978-8 (sc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-8976-4 (hc)

isbn: 978-1-4669-8977-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013906878

Trafford rev. 05/16/2013

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www.trafford.com

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CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

How to use this book

Introduction

PART I: THE PLACE OF ENGLISH IN GABON

Chapter 1: The arrival of the English language

Chapter 2: An insight of English Clubs in Gabon

Chapter 3: English and employment in Gabon

PART II

Chapter 4: The importance of an English club

Chapter 5: How to be a good member in club

Chapter 6: How to lead a language club

Chapter 7: The role of each member

Chapter 8: Basic notions

Chapter 9: Activities

Chapter 10: The Anglicist student’s structure

PART III: SPEAKING AND WRITING GOOD ENGLISH

Chapter 11: Aspects of communicative competence

Chapter 12: International Phonetic Alphabet (the IPA)

Chapter 13: The Sounds of English Vowels and Consonants

Chapter 14: Example of vowels combination pronunciations

Chapter 15: Special symbols

Chapter 16: Pronunciation of some letters

Chapter 17: Speaking, understanding and writing good English

BONUS

List Of Irregular Verbs

To English Teachers Or English Clubs Cordinators How To Launch The Activities Of

The English Club Of Your School

English Club Flashback From 2001 To 2012

Foreword

It is both an honour and a pleasure to write a foreword for this book by someone I had as a student for three years. Former students of the Department of English at Omar Bongo University that have become writers or artitsts in the English language are not that many. Therefore, having to hold a book by Mr. Fouty-Be Mouleka is really exceptional. It is even more exceptional as far as the content is concerned.

The book contains three main parts respectively dealing with the place of English in Gabon, the management of an English Club and the speaking and writing profeciency of English. Part 1 that evokes the sociolinguistic position of English in Gabon, part 2 and part 3 display practical activities and basic notions that should greatly help members of English Clubs and their leaders. Simply saying, this is a technical guide that will help at the same time to redynamize English Clubs and to provide very technical and scientific tools to those who have been learning English. Part 1 and part 3 are typically didactic, whereas part 2 is pedagogical. The approach of the author is to bring the Francophone learners of English to start learning it accuratetly as soon as they begin learning it; no need of being at university first in order to do so! The content can be adapted since an early age; I mean, for beginners and intermediate levels; in primary schools and in high schools.

The book will definitely be useful to professionalize English Clubs. University students and any learner of English would also find this book as useful in their learning process. However, the book is specifically aimed at English Clubs, a form of societies devoted to the promotion of the English language in secondary and high schools in Gabon. It is a fact those societies have never had neither a handbook nor standard guidelines for their management or their activities running. Thus, Mr. Mouleka makes a great contribution by suggesting a guide book for the purpose of bettering the way English Clubs are run and conduct their activities. There is also no doubt that English Clubs contribute significantly to the learning process of the language in secondary and high schools.

This book comes at the time when the Gabonese government has announced the plan to make English as the second official language besides French. Thus, one would forsee the national impact to which this book intends to contribute.

On a personal note, I am extremely proud to realize that this student of mine has excellently put into practice what we have taught him in the English Department. Without any doubt, Fouty-Be Mouleka is now part of the Gabonese writers’ family. We welcome him among the writers of English as a second language.

This is a very good English handbook. I wish it great success in Gabon and everywhere in the world.

Daniel Réné AKENDENGUE,

Professor of English, Omar Bongo University, Gabon

Pictures of English Club meetings

and activities

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Popular English club

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Preface

Why Writing this Book?

At age of eleven, I fell in love with English, a language that my older sisters had as a subject in secondary school while I was in primary school at the time. I had a vision. I felt as if it would become the worldwide language and that everybody will have to speak it and write it correctly.

As I reached Junior High School in Mayumba, I definitely realized that I would devote myself to helping everyone to speak it!

I started to run the school’s club, ROSA PARKS English Club. I should mention that our school was lucky, since in those days the town was hosting a number of Americans from the US Peace Corps Organization, among them there were Peter Alexander and Emily Hibbits. Others, such as Mr. Tooks and of course, Ms. Monique Johnson who initiated that English Club, are today regarded as citizens of Mayumba. They were our English teachers. Even as they are back to America now, they still support us in keeping encouraging Gabonese youth to learn and practice English. This is how we grew up in my hometown, in a full English atmosphere. Mayumba was already one of those towns where English competes with French and native languages, and its English Club is among the very first in Gabon since about 1993. Every Wednesday the Peace Corps volunteers would come and supervise my club meetings, and even suggest a couple of songs, activities and exercises which I also invite you to put into practice in other clubs.

English offered me many opportunities. That is why I write this book so as to express my gratitude for its moral and aesthetic benefits. I wish my two daughters and many other children to share the same experience of that language with me now.

Then I left my hometown school for the capital most famous and oldest High School. Some months after my arrival, I decided to share my little experience and expertise –in the school- though I could feel that my English skills were inadequate. I was accepted in the most famous High School in Gabon.

Now I was attending the well known English club of Lycée National Leon MBA, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

The first thing I did was to observe the way the leaders were entertaining their audience for a period of three months.

Indeed, as soon as the club opened, the pupils were enthusiastic and very often they were a maximum of thirty members in attendance.

Everyone was happy, the Head of the English Department and the school’s former headmaster, Janvier NGUEMA MBOUMBA, himself, a teacher of English was happy too.

I used to attend the meetings. But very often, I am sorry to say, they were boring. They lacked imagination and creativity.

But I would always keep quiet since I had no prior experience in managing an English club in Libreville.

I was in the first year of senior high school. I had theoretically no knowledge to suggest anything since I was coming from Mayumba.

Then two or three months later, the audience came to realize that it would always be attending the same boring meetings: Lessons, songs (if possible), songs and Lessons. Nothing really relaxing nor entertaining!

Then, after meetings I could hear most of them wondering whether an English club meeting was not different from lectures delivered in class.

Almost all of them deserted the club; it remained closed for a short period.

Then, I heard from my classmates that the head of the school had decided to boost socio-cultural and educative activities.

Therefore, the English club needed to be re-organized with new managerial techniques. I felt I was the man! I was given an opportunity to put into practice my methods and share them with other club managers each time they invited us. At the time I was also the vice chairman for the Spanish club. Then, the reform started.

Thus, as soon as it re-opened I was now among the managing staff. They had heard of my speaking skill in English which they appreciated. I had to be in charge of the organization of activities.

Consequently, long afterwards, I was asked to suggest something they had never experienced even though I was still much unknown to them.

As I was already on the verge of working on this book, I suggested to them my techniques which can found in this book. And the audience couldn’t help applauding and attending meetings till the end. The club became overcrowed from that time on; even that of Vincent de Paul Nionda (EPI), where the same methods were used by Passy Mavoungou Rodrigue, a specialist in English clubs management too. We were transmitting to the members an Anglophone way of living through entertainment. They could have such fun!

The following year, I ran the club according to this book’s philosophy.

In addition, I suggested other leaders to do the same. It was indeed a revolutionary period, an experience which cannot be repeated in present English Clubs. Many of those former managers are now working or are about to like Idjongo Padonou Achille or Nzaou Niama Camille, Jurnel MOUSSAVOU and Livinga Lara.

Together we agreed to set up an association we term le Collectif des Clubs d’ Anglais du Gabon pour le Développement, formerly (ECGU); so that we could follow the new managers according to this guide book.

So purchase this book, lead your club by taking into account the advice in it, and soon all your members will become fluent English speakers. For me, the real literate individual is the one who speaks and writes a foreign language correctly like a native.

This book