The Angolans

Last Fall, Folkeuniversitetet asked me if I wanted to teach and prepare 5 exchange students from Angola to take the IELTS exam.  Our university, NTNU, was willing to pay for the instruction and preparation.  The course would be 48 hours.  I said yes.

NTNU's Petroleum institute admits students from Tanzania and Angola through a program called ANTHEI to study geophysics and petroleum technologies and engineering.  The program was created through Norway's aid program (NORAD).  There is a problem, though.  The Tanzanian students have good English skills (English and Swahili are the de facto official languages of Tanzania).  Angola's two main languages are Bantu and Portuguese.

Angola is a developing country with large oil reserves, diamonds and minerals, but it is only just over a decade away from a devastating 27-year civil war following independence from Portugal.  Life expectancy at birth is 55; the literacy rate is 70%.

The International Masters program at NTNU is taught in English.  Thus, students from non-English speaking countries must pass the IELTS.  The five students from Angola had almost no training in English.  Some had taken a semester of English; one a quarter.  All had to go to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania for intensive study in English for one month.  Then they took the IELTS.  They all failed.

I started teaching the students in September.  3 women and 2 men.  I think that they were disappointed that I don't speak Portuguese, though  I think it probably helped them to learn English.  When we started, I was not optimistic; they were advanced beginners.  I was really worried for them.  Then I learned that over the past several years, only one Angolan in the program had passed the IELTS.

The classes were fun and the students were engaged.  They were totally unprepared for the Norwegian cold, the prices and the cultural differences.  I spent a lot of time teaching Norwegian culture as well as English.  When it got close to taking the exam, I learned that none of them had registered.  They couldn't afford it, they said.  They simply didn't have the money.

By the time that the university became aware of this snag, it was too late to sign up for the December test.  So, the university arranged (and paid for) for the students to take the exam on February 14. And the best thing to happen was that they paid me to give the students another 48 hours of instruction.  The students sorely needed more instruction and I didn't mind the extra work (and pay).

4 of the 5 students went to Southern Europe for Christmas break.  When they got back, I offered to take them on a trip to Rønningen (see my post regarding Rønningen).  Only two, Maura and Fatima showed up for the hike.  It was too cold for the others!  It was cold, all right, about 15F.

Only the brave.  Maura and Fatima ut på tur!

It was a beautiful afternoon, albeit cold.

They had no idead the walk would be so far and take so long.

Fatima really enjoyed the trip.  This is inside the "hytte".  We bought hot tea and cinnamon rolls.

We brought food with us, too.  Maura is wearing a sweater I lent her.  It was huge on her.

Both women commented on the Norwegian past-time of hiking.  They were so impressed with the old people walking with backpacks.  They explained that no one walks "for fun" in Angola.  They both said they would love to do it again, but maybe another trail, and maybe when it is warmer.

After winter break we continued with classes until two days before the test.  They reported that the test was difficult and they could not predict how they did.  Last weekend I invited them to dinner.  I wanted to make sure we dined before the results came out, as that might have been one depressing dinner.

They got to meet Tove and see the inside of a real home in Norway for the first time.  They were amazed by how many books we had.  They took pictures of each other in front of the bookshelves.

Fatima, Carlos, Maura S, Pedro and Maura G

Posing

Taken with remote

Dancing to the only Portuguese language music I have.

Looking at the atlas (map of Angola)

 I found out two days ago that all 5 passed the exam.