“On the first day, I entered the classroom to find about fourteen women sitting quietly… avoiding a direct gaze at one another, with a trace of shyness and awkwardness evident in their demeanour. I was surprised at the silence in the class—despite the presence of several women in one room! I was amused at the sight, though I must admit that I was myself a bit sceptical about the beginning, progress and the outcome of a Course such as this.

And, lo! Behold! Twenty days later, the incessant chatter, cheer and chuckles of the very same fourteen women were deafening, as they hugged each other and bid emotion-laden goodbyes to each other in English. The transformation was joyous and complete,” said Navniit Gandhi, who successfully trained the first batch, for the Course titled: ‘I Can Talk In English’,during May-June 2018 at GURUKUL.

Speaking with IIK, Navniit summarised the entire experience as ‘overwhelmingly fulfilling’, even as the participants of the Course could not stop raving about how it had made them confident and enabled them to overcome their hesitation at conversing in English.

The Course: I Can Talk in English’ has been introduced by GURUKUL, Salmiya which is a IIK initiative and offers a wide range of Courses aimed at equipping adults and kids with soft skills that constitute essential pre-requisites for a holistic development of personalities.

One such program, specifically catered to meet the needs of Indian women/housewives is the ‘I Can Talk In English’ course which GURUKUL has designed in association with IWIK (Indian Women In Kuwait). It was felt that there is a significant percentage of Indian women, who despite their education and other important achievements/skills, find it difficult to converse in English.

Spread over 20 sessions of about 90 minutes each, the interactive course strengthened the base as far as the basic rules of grammar are concerned, and made the participants intensely practise their English-speaking skills.

“It is all about picking the threads and feeling confident all over again. I used to actively participate in a lot of activities in college, and even worked in India before coming to Kuwait. However, on coming here, the avenues to speak in English were restricted as I stayed at home and immersed myself in household responsibilities.

Today, when the kids speak fluently and there is a need for me to speak with their teachers, I feel embarrassed. Hence, I enrolled for this course and I feel very much happy and confident now,” said one participant.

While some of the participants joined the course because they wanted to prepare themselves for job-interviews, others cited reasons such as: ‘we want to not feel left out when our school-going kids and their friends speak so very fluently’ or ‘I feel shy and remain quiet when my husband’s colleagues come over for dinner. I keep a lavish spread ready for them but remain in the background because I cannot talk in English’.

The course was held during 10.00-11.30 am, thereby making it convenient for housewives to attend the same. On the concluding day, while receiving certificates, some of the participants expressed the need for an Advanced-level course, so as to develop their English-speaking skills further on and to be able to speak much more fluently. Said another enthusiastic participant,” The ability and confidence to speak in English is not connected with education or work experience.

Nearly all of us are graduates, and some even post-graduates with a few years of work-experience as well. We do know English, but we hesitate while speaking. The reluctance is because we feel nervous, shy and also because our grammatical base is weak. Courses such as these give us the opportunity to learn, practise with others who are similarly placed, and to feel good about ourselves.”

The dates for the commencement of the next batches are as follows:

I Can Talk In English: A two-month course for developing the basic English-speaking skills, beginning from September 2, 2018 onwards.

I Can Fluently Talk In English: A two-month course for developing the ability to speak fluently in English, with a special focus on appearing for interviews and making formal speeches/presentations, beginning from September 2, 2018 onwards.

Those interested may call at: Gurukul, Salmiya. 60013210, 60617933