Wide Open

I got roped into the obligation a few weeks back. I volunteered to help my department at the annual BCIT Open House. PELD had a table set up in order to hand out information and answer questions from potential students. Professional English Language Development is a part of Academic Studies. We offer upgrading courses for students who haven't completed English 12 from a high school here. Of course many of our clients are immigrants from the professions who need some additional language exposure. The ultimate goal for our standard courses is entry into the programs offered at BCIT.



For the first several hours, I manned the table and was able to talk with quite a few interested people. Then I grabbed a super-quick lunch and headed off to the NE1 Building to open the PELD computer lab. We encouraged visitors to try some of the software we use. For example, Pronunciation Power helps students with detailed analysis of the sounds of the language. Microphones and headsets are used. Unfortunately, as the location was a bit out of the way, it lacked the carnival atmosphere near the center of things. Still, there were a few who came in to look around and stayed. I had several long conversations with visitors.

All it all, it was a useful experience.