Matthew Jordan Schmidt
There is more that meets the eye when it comes to the Explore Program coordinator, Matthew Jordan Schmidt. For one thing, he has a mixed background: Romanian, German, and Dutch. So, why did he decide to learn French? It may be because his mother taught French. It drove him to read French literature which he greatly enjoyed. Although he has been learning French since he was 10 years old, it was only at 18 that he became really passionate about it.
For 5 years now he has lived in Vancouver where he is planning to stay for good. He came to UBC to do his Master’s in French Literature. He moved from Hamilton, Ottawa where he had his Undergraduate in Linguistic and French from the McMaster University. Currently, he teaches English writing at UBC and works in the Educational Resources Development for the French program with Francis.
Matthew loves the Explore program. He considers it a great opportunity to discover different parts of Canada while meeting people of different cultures. The program makes the language that much real to the students since they are completely immersed in it and use it as the tool to interact with others.
Matthew, the teacher, is known to be inspiring. He adapts to the dynamics of each of his groups. A group, a small community he gets to know better. In his eyes, every student is different and he tries to meet them at their best. Allowing students to be who they are in his classroom is one of his priorities.
Matthew, the person, is passionate about life, spiritual, and hopeful. Other than English and French he speaks Spanish. All these languages must have come in handy when he travelled to: France, Spain, Brazil, Dominican Republic, U.S.A. The last book he read is Letters to a Young Poet. Set in 1903, the book centers on real letters which were exchanged between Rilke, an Austrian poet, and a young writer. These correspondents mainly contained advice about life.
The advice he leaves for past Explore students is #1: “Thank you.” #2: “I hope you see your home and your world with new eyes.”
For future Explore students: “Be brave, and get ready to be amazed.
Grant Lovelock
Grant is a Vancouverite to the core. Born in Vancouver, he lived here all his life except for the 2 years he stayed in Tokyo to teach English. As a first year Explore teacher, he founds his French speaking students different from his usual Japanese students. He noticed that with the Explore students the difficulty is specific to the language whereas International students struggle with the education system, which is unlike their own.
His bachelor’s degree in geography helped him work as an assistant in the city’s planning office. At the moment, he is working on his master’s degree TESOL, Teaching English as a Second or Other Language. Language is first and foremost a method to interact with others, to share ideas and thoughts. Speaking is the heart of the language.
Grant has a positive reaction to the Explore program. Francophones will be able to use English to move forward all around the world when Anglophones will be able to use French to open new doors. Canada is difficult to travel as it is too big, but the program encourages its exploration. It opens the students’ eyes to other cultures and other environments.
Grant is fluent in English and Japanese. He learned basic French in high school, but it’s really when he traveled Europe at 22 that he wanted to improve his abilities in French. After 6 months of working on his French, it got better. Unfortunately, he had no one to practice with so he lost it. One of his goals is to relearn his French.
Grant in three words: easygoing, funny, and curious. The last book he read, After Tamerlane, (Tamerlane is the king of The Mongols) elaborates on the history of the world.
His advice for Explore students who are leaving: “Do something in English or French for at least 30 minutes every day i.e. watch tv, listen to music, read a book.”
His advice for future Explore students: “Don’t be afraid of speaking English. Jump in! Notice how people speak around you and ask a lot of questions.”
Victoria Brown
Victoria Brown is unfortunately not related to Charlie Brown, but she loved to watch the cartoon as a child. In fact, her favourite character was Peanuts. She also loves to read about history. Collapse, the last book she read, is a non-fiction novel concentrating on the downfalls of ancient societies and how our current era can learn from them. In three words Victoria is positive, interested, and loyal.
An important attribute Victoria possesses as a teacher is her curiosity. She is interested in learning new ideas, which is certainly not missing in a classroom. She was working in the UBC English Language Institute for the summer when she discovered the Explore Program. In her view, the Explore Program is a great opportunity offered to Canadian students. They have the chance to know in detail a new province and a new language. Though she can speech Spanish and Japanese she could have used an immersion program to improve her French.
Victoria had the opportunity to visit Australia as well as many countries in Europe, Asia, and South America. Why did she decide to live in Vancouver? She believes that Vancouver is a city of ideas and innovations, where people are mostly open minded. This is something that she regards highly.
Her advice for the future Explore students: be like the current Explore students of 2010! It’s her first year teaching in the Explore Program and she just has positive feedback to give.
Layne Kriwoke
It only took one afternoon for the students of Level 7 to warm up to Layne. His ongoing enthusiasm and energy during each class made the lessons much more exciting and interesting. As a matter of fact, he enjoys teaching, but he first started out wanting to be an actor. The first job he held was as an actor in a theatre. Although, he loved the art, the unattractive business aspect led him to consider other careers. Afterwards, among many jobs he worked as an employment counsellor for immigrants in Vancouver.
Layne has lived in Vancouver for over 20 years. His grandparents emigrated from Ukraine to Saskatchewan. As young adults they occupied land that Canada was giving at the time for farming. They were settlers. Layne loves travelling. In Canada, he knows BC, Montreal, Quebec City, and La Gaspésie. Overseas, he is familiar with Asia, this exotic continent, where he lived off and on because of work. He was especially attracted to Vancouver because of its strong Asian community.
Layne worked at ELI in the continuing education at UBC where he learned of the Explore Program. He considers that this immersion program is the best way to learn a language. It forces the students to use and practice the language in a productive environment while having fun. Indeed, he learned Mandarin, his second language, in Asia in a similar situation.
Nathan Bauman
He was born in Vancouver, but lived in Ontario, Toronto for two years where he completed his Master degree in Comparative and Semitic Linguistics (Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations). He finished his Bachelor degrees in biblical studies. He is now studying at distance in the University of Victoria while still teaching International pre-degree students at UBC.
According to Nathan, the Explore program helps the students learn more about the opposite side of Canada, it also helps them develop their skills in language. He finds his experience as an Explore teacher interesting because he can discover Quebec culture, a very remarkable culture.
Nathan is passionate about North West Coast First Nations. Three words that describe him best are history-oriented, aesthetically oriented, and nice. He knows Corean, but not fluently. He finds it unfortunate that he stopped taking French lessons is grade 8. It would have been a great plus. The last book he read, Solitary Raven: The Essential Writings of Bill Reid, focused on the history of First Nations.
The advice he leaves for future students: «Be open minded and don’t drink too much alcohol! »
The advice he leaves for past students: «Be authentic and stay in touch with your inner self. »
Sylvia Ozbalt came a long way. She was born in Australia, then moved to Slovenia, crossed the sea to Montreal, stopped by Quebec City and ended at Vancouver. She studied Anthropology and Geography at McGill. From the Vancouver Community College she received her diploma in English second language. She is currently finishing her Master’s in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language or Other Language) at distance from England.
Why did she decide to live in Vancouver? The answer is simple. She used to take summer trips to Vancouver and eventually she was ready for a big change. She was ready to move in this marvellous province. It has been 6 years now and she still didn’t get enough of Vancouver.
She highly regards the Explore program because it is a well-thought program that brings young people together. They get to know various people and to share their experiences. The program also provides a great opportunity for students to travel and discover Canada.
Sylvia loves to do rock climbing. She’s been hanging on cliffs for 15 years. Her outstanding energy and her drive to create mark her uniqueness as a teacher. In three words Sylvia is open minded, empathetic and a control freak (in the most positive way). She compares her experience as an Explore teacher to a roller coaster ride. Everything goes by so quickly, she’s really busy all the time. The program required a variety of activities and lessons, fortunately the students were really motivated and energetic.
The last book she read is called Eat, Pray, Love (yes, there making a movie out of it with Julia Roberts!).
The advice she shares with future explore students: « Be opened to different possibilities, take advantage of the opportunities, live their experience to the fullest, listen to themselves, and let it all happen!»
The advice she shares with past explore students: « Keep the feeling, don’t stop learning, keep your minds open, be proud of yourselves, and come back! And do it over and over again! »
P.S. The best time to visit Vancouver is in July, August, and September when the weather really feels like summer.
Sheryl Hovde
Sheryl has been lived at Vancouver since 6 years. Before that she had lived in China where she taught English and then after in USA at University Memphis where she taught also English. From AZUSA PACIFIC in California she received her Master in TASOL (Teaching English as second or other languages) and in Regent College in UBC; she received Master of Christian studies.
For Sheryl, explore program is important for students because it’s intensive experience surrounded by English learning and speaking and also a good opportunities for student to be able to live together. This year was a first for Sheryl to teach explore‘s students and on her opinion it’s intensive program rewarding because students want to learn also. In three words we can say that Sheryl is sensitive, fun loving and Joyful.The book Sheryl is reading now is « Given birth» by Enemay
Sheryl speaks Chinese, Spanish and now she is learning German.
The advice Sheryl shares with explore past students is « remember everything you learned her»
For the future explore students« you will get out of the program what you put in»
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