ELT professionals receive $50,000 to launch linguistic center

Recently, U.S. Embassy Cultural Affairs Officer, Merlyn Schultz visited the Yaounde Pilot Linguistic Center to meet with English language teachers participating in a professional development workshop.

Addressing the group of thirty ELT professionals from all over Cameroon, Mrs. Schultz underscored the importance of teachers in general and language teachers in particular, in ensuring that young Cameroonians are equipped with adequate skills to contribute in nation-building.

"The US Embassy is proud to partner with you all in fulfilling this important mission," she told participants. She used this opportunity to announce the award of a $50,000 grant to the Yaounde Pilot Linguistic Center to start a new English Access Microscholarship Program.

As part of the professional development workshop, IRC Director Mathias Tientcheu conducted a session focusing on “Online Resources for English Language Teachers and learners.”

Mathias Tientcheu presented the eLibrary USA portal, explained the requirements to use it and walked participants through a number of databases, to give them an idea of the wealth of resources available. At the end of the presentation, participants were eager to start exploring the database.

The three-day workshop at the Yaounde Pilot Linguistic was organized on the initiative of Mrs. Helen Nama, teacher at the Yaounde Pilot Center, and Mr. Charles Asanji, of the Garoua linguistic Center, who both recently participated in a three-week “Access Teachers Workshop” in the United States funded by the U.S. Government.