Testimonials and Bios
“Nancy and Nila love their jobs. They work with their heart with serious students who really want to learn and settle here in Canada.”
– Former student and current BC businessman
“…Organized, caring, efficient, extremely competent, and excellent teaching skills….”
– Former student and current BC business owner
“…(T)hank you for all of your incredible work on WCR (The Westcoast Reader newspaper) throughout the years, helping to build it into such a strong and reputable resource. You should be very proud of what you have accomplished with the newspaper, knowing that it has impacted so many learners over the years in such a positive way.”
– Bryan Dreilich, Director, Adult Education, Ministry of Advanced Education, British Columbia
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Nancy Carson
Ms. Carson is a retired B.C. teacher with 35 years’ experience at the elementary, secondary and college levels.
Ms. Carson was a contributing author to The Westcoast Reader newspaper, an award-winning newspaper, which serves the needs of learners who are not fluent in English.
She has also spent a total of three years in volunteer positions in Western Kenya, East Africa. There she worked for organizations giving scholarships to needy students and she still supports some boys and girls at school.
In 2011 and 2012, she spent four months in Kenya helping with Tembo-Kenya’s new program Read for the Top. As well, she co-facilitated seminars on reading, writing and oral language strategies for teachers of children whose third language is English.
In Canada, Ms. Carson volunteers for seniors’ organizations, coaches ESL students, and is available in a consultative capacity.
Nila Gopaul
Ms. Gopaul has two teaching certificates and is a faculty member in the English for Academic Purposes Department at Capilano University.
At Harvard University’s Institute for English Language programs, she was a valued summer faculty member, who worked closely with international students who needed to improve their English skills as they prepared for undergraduate and graduate studies.
Ms. Gopaul also taught at several B.C. post-secondary institutions including UBC’s ELI, SFU, and BCIT. She also worked with partnership programs with the University of Victoria in the United Arab Emirates and with Capilano University in China.
For six years, she was the editor and publisher of The Westcoast Reader newspaper, an award-winning educational newspaper and resource, which serves the needs of learners who are not fluent in English.
For 10 years, Ms. Gopaul owned and operated her own language school in Vancouver, Canada, where she helped many immigrant families and international students to settle and integrate successfully into their new social, cultural, and educational environments.
Ms. Gopaul’s international projects included working with education ministries in the government, training teachers and setting up curricula in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and in countries such as Japan and China.