GrowlersWorld - The GrowlersWorld Interviews

The GrowlersWorld Interviews

The GrowlersWorld Interviews are an ongoing quest, bringing you closer to successful and creative people in all walks of life.

Rawle Austin presents...

A conversation with Herman Prada - The Gatekeeper of Language Learning

Herman Prada is the manager of the London South Bank University Language Centre.

A centre of excellence, I can personally vouch for the Language Centre.

I studied Mandarin Chinese there for two years and gained a solid foundation in the language.

I spoke with Herman to gain a greater insight into his life, past and present.

[This is the first of a two part interview with the leaders of the Language Centre. I'll be talking with Stephen Bellas, the Director of the Language Centre, in the next interview.]

Rawle Austin: How long have you been working at the London South Bank University (LSBU) Language Centre?

Herman Prada: I joined the Language Centre in 1995, when it was located in the London Road building, working part-time and doing bits and bobs while covering the reception.

I progressed from there to starting the process of cataloguing the Centre’s resources and later to being the Centre’s Administrator. Now I am the Centre’s Manager.

RA: Could you give our readers a brief profile of your life prior to working at the LSBU Language Centre?

HP: Before joining LSBU I was a Civil Engineer working for a local government company in Bogotá, Colombia. I was Manager of the Engineering Section, in charge of engineers from various disciplines, plus draughtsmen and a team of surveyors.

I also taught IT for students of Civil Engineering in two Universities in Bogotá, from 1987 to 1994.

As most of the vocabulary was technical, and in English, this provided a good opportunity for my students to learn some English by having to remember all the commands.

In the UK I did transcription of the following AV materials for Spanish courses developed by the BBC for the Open University: A Bordo, En Rumbo (1-4) Viento en Popa and A Buen Puerto.

I’ve also taught Spanish at different levels from beginners to advanced.

RA: Why is it important to learn another language, in your opinion?

HP: People recognise that in terms of employability, languages are an extremely desirable skill. Having language skills on your CV can make the difference between getting a job… or not.

UK employers looking for high-level language skills often have to contract foreign native speakers because of insufficient skills locally.

While learning a foreign language, you also have the opportunity to learn about different people’s cultures, beliefs and -of course- have the chance to try their food!!

With regard to holidays, the difference is enormous. Jennifer, my wife, and I have been on holiday to Spain on many occasions. People there are pleased to hear a British person talking to them in Spanish.

The attention and treatment that we receive is much better.

Tourist guides, waiters, hotel staff, etc. are keen on talking to us because it’s also easier for them.

Once, in Lanzarote, we were ‘serenaded’ by a Cuban trio, as I kept saying “otra, otra” (another one, another one) as soon as they finished a song.

RA: What languages do you speak?

HP: I speak Spanish, Italian and French. I also did a beginners course in Chinese Mandarin and recently started a Russian beginners course too.

I feel extremely lucky that Spanish is my mother tongue because it’s a language that’s gaining importance worldwide.

Spanish is the official language of 22 countries with more than 400 million speakers.

In addition, there are more Spanish speaking people living in the USA than in the whole of Central America.

Brazilian authorities have recognised that it’s a drawback to be the biggest country in South America, with the highest population, and not to speak Spanish.

Some years ago they introduced it as a second language in order not to be at a disadvantage in the business world.

RA: What's your educational background?

HP: I’m a Civil Engineer by trade and certainly passionate about languages.

I hope that at some point in the future I can go back to designing buildings, roads, footbridges and flyovers.

People appreciate the splendour of engineering when, for example, TV programmes show 60-second clips of how a whole project was built.

RA: What makes a good language teacher in your opinion?

HP: Dedication, passion, flexibility and the ability to provide a variety of activities to keep students involved and interested.

Grammar rules don’t have to be everything. I remember using the lyrics of popular songs such as Guantanamera, La Bamba, and others by singers like Gloria Estefan, Ricky Martin or Julio Iglesias in filling-the-gap exercises.

This kept my students both happy and interested. Some songs are useful when explaining tricky subjects for English-speaking people, such as the subjunctive.

RA: Why should people study languages at the LSBU Language Centre?

HP: There’s a state-of-the-art Centre with facilities than many Universities and Colleges would wish for.

These include multimedia resources that allow students to practice at times suitable to them, audio and video facilities, an extensive video collection for you to view at your leisure in a variety of different languages, satellite television and much more.

The professionalism and quality of our teaching staff; all of whom are native speakers. The location of the University is very, very close to the City.

We produce attendance certificates, which is an important recognition in terms of personal development, to students finishing the course and who have also attended more than 80% of the unit.

Our courses are also good value for money. Some centres offer the same type of courses that we run for about three times as much the fee paid at LSBU.

RA: What general tips can you give to students on studying languages?

HP: Persevere. Things may look complicated at the beginning, but they become simpler as you progress. I started French and Italian beginners courses at the same time.

It was very confusing to start with, but it gets easier. One shouldn’t be scared of making mistakes. Communication is a two-way process and the important thing is to try to both listen and make yourself understood.

RA: What's the most popular language being studied at the LSBU Language Centre at the moment?

HP: Ever since I started working in the Language Centre it’s been Spanish. Some years French courses have been popular too, as are Arabic and Chinese Mandarin.

RA: And finally, how has the growth of China impacted the numbers of students studying Mandarin Chinese?