The four books in the series

A series of English workbooks tailored specifically for students in Seychelles could be making their way into the country’s schools by next year.

Compiled by Guy Morel and published by the Tutorial College, the workbooks are designed to help secondary students understand the origins of the English language and progressively build up their reading and writing skills.

According to Mr Morel, despite the fact that English is one of the country’s official languages, many Seychellois still do not have a firm grip on the language.

Part of the problem, he said, is that many English references do not take into consideration that the people using them might not be entirely familiar with the subtleties of the language – subtleties that native speakers take for granted.

“Most other books assume that English is the mother tongue,” Mr Morel said, noting that the workbooks have been written with the idea that students in Seychelles are typically learning English as a second language.

The series consists of four workbooks, one each for grade levels from S1 through S4.

The first book covers basic grammar and punctuation, while the second focuses on the origins of the English language.  Understanding the largely Latin influences of English, Mr Morel explained, would help students recognise the roots of different words and help build up their vocabularies.

The next two volumes take a different course, with the third book introducing students to great works of literature and the fourth aimed at helping students with writing techniques.

Mr Morel said he hoped the workbooks would also help encourage students to pursue their O-levels in English during their S4 classes, as opposed to S5.  A certain proficiency in the language, he pointed out, would help students make clearer points and arguments while writing their S5 exams for more technical subjects, such as geography.

So far, 2,000 copies of each of the four books have been published, but Mr Morel said that another 2,000 copies for each version will be published early next year.

Funding for the workbooks has come from Mr Morel himself and other private individuals.

A fifth book, entitled How to Transform your English into French, has also been published by the Tutorial College.  The book uses English as a base to help students become more comfortable with the nuances of the French language.

Mr Morel said that he plans on publishing three other books next year for secondary students – one about the influence of Greek mythology on Western languages, and a pair of anthologies on French and English poetry.

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