Impact Stories & Blogs

Bilingual Journalist Forum

All over the world in countries where English is not a first language, majority of people make an effort to learn it. Two widely held beliefs are that English is one of the most important global languages and that knowledge of English leads to expanded career opportunities, salary increments, and improvements in living standards. Countries around the world recognize that to remain competitive in the global economy, their citizens must learn English. For many English learners, speaking is the most difficult part of the language to master. To improve your speaking skills, you need to be able to practice with other English learners or English speakers. One way to do this is by joining or starting an English club. These are informal gatherings of individuals who meet regularly with the express purpose of practicing English. Members commit to speaking in English during meetings as they engage in activities that support and encourage them to use the language.

It was thus exciting for us to visit the Bilingual Journalist Forum in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. The English club is based in the Information Department under the United Nations Information Centre at the United Nations Complex. The club is mainly a destination for current and aspiring journalists, interpreters, translators as well as those passionate about learning the English Language. The patron of the club, Mr Prosper Mihindou Ngoma who is Head of the Office at the United Nations Informations Centre, clearly cannot hide his passion and belief in these young Africans hungry for opportunities.

Apart from just practicing English, the club is also involved in the activities of the Complex in some of the community projects such as events like the UN at 75 years that is mainly be about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Two of YALI RLC EA Alumni based in Congo, Ewandi Ruth Naomi (Cohort 31) and Ntela Biantouari Dzouolo Gess (Cohort 21) are among the members of this club who are looked upon to drive the discussions and initiatives. 

The UN Complex Information Centre provides the space, internet and some of the materials to use during the club activities. Some of the other resources include video conferencing which is available whenever they need it.

The club carries out their activities through reading newspapers, discussing various topics, watching short films, reading materials and debating. Some of the topics covered before include: Youth Behaviour in Today’s World, African immigration to the West, Diversity in Local Languages and The UN and UN system (Society of Nations). On this day, the discussion was on trending news in the international and local media.

It was clear across the table that the club was struggling with gender balance with only three females out of almost fifteen members. The YALI RLC EA team therefore challenged the club about this issue as well as exploring more opportunities in technology such as Duolingo software/app, YouTube and going for more languages such as Swahili. The Bilingual Journalist Forum patron appreciated the visit and committed more towards empowering the youth and availing as much opportunities as possible to them.