UAE | Heritage and Culture
Big demand for English in UAE
The British Council has only changed its venue twice over the last 40 years and will soon return to its newly reconstructed premises.
- By Mariam M. Al SerkalStaff Reporter
- Published: 00:45 May 2, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive & Arshad Ali/Gulf News
- The building occupied by the British Council until now is being rebuilt to accommodate more and better facilities.
Dubai: Since its inception here in 1969 the British Council has weathered some ups and downs, but it has grown to be a beacon in the field of arts and education.
A wide variety of theatrical groups have appeared on its stage, In the mid-1980s up to six groups were performing in its auditorium, including a pianist, an orchestra, a mime group and a group performing William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
The art scene was a bit drab in the 1990s, but it kicked off again thereafter with the appointment of an arts project manager for the Middle Eastern region.
The British Council has only changed its venue twice over the last 40 years and will soon return to its newly reconstructed premises.
Its popularity among residents has withstood the test of time as it continues to connect people through visits, student exchange programmes, exams, library services and many arts and cultural events.
The British Council was initially run from an apartment near the Clock Roundabout. In 1973 it was relocated to a one-storey building on Tariq Bin Ziyad Road, near Rashid Hospital, which was donated by the late Shaikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
The British Council again moved out of its premises in December 2007 and temporarily relocated to Academic City where it will stay for a year while the older building is being rebuilt. The new building is expected to have ten classrooms and outdoor space for functions.
Linda Pearson, 59, joined the British Council in 1983 as librarian, and later became the knowledge manager. She currently works at the institute as a freelance teacher and examiner for the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).
"When I first joined, we only had a few staff members, consisting of two people in the library, three in administration, myself, the registrar and the receptionist.
"We were in a one storey multi-purpose building that had six classrooms, a small theatre with a stage, and a medium size library. We were quite busy providing English courses to around 500 students who would come in three times a week," she said, noting that the numbers have constantly grown over the years.
"We taught computers and Arabic for a while but then it stopped. We used to offer classes in English, music and drama, but the focus shifted over the years. We also moved away from providing library services and turned into a resource centre for providing off-site English courses for companies.
"We are providing more classes to young learners. Before, they were only held in the summer but we now hold them regularly on Saturdays," she said.
Superstition
Speaking about Shakespeare's Macbeth, she said there is a lot of superstition surrounding the play, with countless stories of accidents, misfortunes and even deaths.
It is still common for actors and theatre staff to consider it bad luck to mention Macbeth by name while inside a theatre, and they usually refer to it as "the Scottish Play".
"One of the superstitions is that it is unlucky to perform Macbeth. When the actors came to Dubai in 1990, I ended up in hospital, one of the messenger boys at the British Council had a heart attack and the main actor slipped in the bath tub and had to have his leg cast in plaster, all in the same week," she said.
In May 2006, the British Council decided to close down its 32-year-old library to the general public in response to the sharp decline in demand for recreational English books. Many members were disappointed when they learnt the extensive collection of books was to be sold at a clearance sale, and that the library would be replaced with computers for educational purposes.
It was the last library of the British Council in the Gulf region to offer a lending service to the public.
"Although we extended our buildings, the old place was becoming too small because the regional team shared the same premises with the Dubai team. We got approval from the British Council in London to tear it down and rebuild it. We should be back there, in the new building, by the end of this year."
Pearson lived in Doha from 1977 to 1983 and previously worked with the Ministry of Education as an English teacher, before joining the British Council.
The only shopping in the 1980s was at Al Ghurair Centre and Al Diyafa Street in Satwa, and there was really nowhere else to go except for the souqs. "Everyone worked a split shift and many would go back home to Sharjah for lunch. Al Ittihad Road was like a suicide alley at one stage because everybody would drive so fast. I think once Deira City Centre opened, it changed and people started getting used to the shops opening at midday."
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