von Stephen A.
It is my pleasure to share my experiences and impressions on two different internships I have done during my master’s Program at EUF. These internships happened in Accra and Flensburg/ Finland respectively.
To begin with, I will elaborate on the first internship I did in January 2022 in Accra, Ghana. After completing my mandatory national service in Ghana, I served as a teaching assistant at the University of Education, Winneba which ended in the latter 2021. This service fueled my interest in staying in the academic fraternity. Therefore, I looked for another teaching position and found one in Accra-Sapeimann at the Little Light School. This is a reputed private school in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. The school can boast of Academic excellence and quality practical skills invested in its students.
My job as a teacher in the Little Light School was a remarkable one. The authorities required me to go through mentorship under two experienced teachers. I was teaching English Language and Akan as subjects at the Junior secondary school level. In addition, I served as a member of the Guidance and Counselling Team, which is responsible for giving advice on students’ emotional situations as well as guiding them on career development. Having a lot of experience with adult teaching at my previous university, it was a bit challenging for me to handle the teenagers in the first month but with the help of my mentors, it became very easier in the following months.
Teaching teenagers was a great deal for me to demonstrate my ability to handle complex situations and problem-solving skills. In the end, I was proud to know that the classes I handled that year had the greatest scores in their final exams in English Language since the previous 5 years. In all, every encounter I had through this internship has built my experience and they are unforgettable.
Secondly, I will share my thoughts on the internship I did in Flensburg and Finland. This is an ongoing private project which aims at writing books for Ghanaian immigrant children in Europe. This project was initiated in Finland by Mrs. Vida Obeng-Kwaah and her team.
Between September 2022 and May 2024, I participated in writing a children’s book titled, ‘Basic Twi, Deutsch and English for Beginners’. This was the second book by the project team. The book focused on writing a children’s book in three languages (Twi, English, and German). I deemed it a great chance to exhibit my language skills as well as to gain more experience in writing and publishing. During the project, I joined the team which is responsible for writing the German and Akan (Twi) version of the book. Our task was to provide meaningful topics to be featured in the book and to translate all the content of the book which was originally written in English and Akan to German.
This internship is really on my heart because it throws more light on my current study program due to its proximity to the culture, language, and society. More importantly, I have learned that one needs a lot of linguistic, cultural, behavioral, and technological experiences to be able to write pieces for children.