Illustrious English teacher, Sir Franklin Longhorne is, a ‘Special Person’

Sep 25, 2022 News, Special Person

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Helping to raise the academic bar in schools for over 40 years…

“I always wanted to become three things: a pastor, a teacher, and broadcaster and at different stages of my life, I took on all three of these roles.”

By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – Any person privileged enough to have a conversation with Mr. Franklin Longhorne can immediately tell you that he has an intimate affair with the English Language. His love for the vernacular in whatever form it takes – creole (broken English) or Standard English – is undeniable.

So much so, that Mr. Langhorne, a teacher of the English language for more than 40 years, is regarded as “a living legend” by many of his students and peers.

‘Sir’ Langhorne as he is called by those closest to him, has not only enjoyed many years as an illustrious language teacher but he has fared well in other faculties where his command of the English Language is essential.

At various points of his life, this week’s ‘Special Person’ functioned as a pastor and a broadcaster, capacities in which he held notable speaking roles. He told this publication that he has been “blessed” to have achieved all three of his boyhood ambitions.

“I always wanted to become three things: a pastor, a teacher, and broadcaster and at different stages of my life, I took on all three of these roles,” Longhorne said of fulfilling his lifelong dreams. In fact, those dreams led him to enter the Cyril Potter’s College of Education (CPCE) or the Teacher’s Training College at age 19.  To further qualify himself, Mr. Longhorne also completed a short communication Course at the Critchlow Labour College, then a short course at the University of Guyana where he read for a Language Teaching Certificate.

Back then, the young teacher quickly moved to the University of Guyana, where he earned his Bachelor of Education Degree with an English Major. Longhorne then ventured into broadcasting

He revealed, “I joined the Guyana Broadcasting Cooperation in 1985 as a continuity Broadcaster and doubled duties as Head of the English Department at President’s College.”

‘Sir’ Longhorne then left in 1995 for St. Lucia where he served as an English A and English B teacher for Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) students. In St. Lucia, he also taught English and Communication at the Arthur Lewis A Level College.

In 2000, ‘Sir’ Longhorne left St. Lucia for Netherlands Antilles where he taught English A and English B.  He returned to Guyana in 2010 and rejoined the Guyana Broadcasting Corporation as a radio broadcaster doing shows like Plain Talk, “Straight from the heart” and others.  He then began lecturing in communication and effective speaking at the Critchlow Labour College and eventually joined the staff of School of the Nations, followed by Morgan’s Learning Centre and finally Chase’s Academic Foundation where he still serves as a ‘Master’ English Teacher.

VILLAGE BOY

However, the highly esteemed, ‘Sir’ Longhorne still regards himself as a very simple man who had grown to bear hardly any semblance to ‘the village boy’ he once was. Mr. Langhorne cautioned, however, the essence of who he is, is still very connected to the boy who grew up in Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara. He said he was what many people call “a church boy.” Longhorne revealed that very early on in his life, he was exposed to a “rigid”, religious upbringing that led him to lead a very modest lifestyle.

“I basically grew up in the old Pentecostal church—called the Church of God of Prophecy in Ann’s Grove.”

He recalled too that during his childhood, almost the whole village was church oriented. As such, he said the village expected him (referred to back then as “Brother Frank”), and his four closest friends to set a very high bar for the other young people in the village. He said that his strict Church upbringing forbade him from many things.

He noted, “For example, there was no going to the cinema; no wearing of gold; no singing of pop songs.”

“As a result, that upbringing instilled in me a very strong sense of no to things considered wrong…Even when I went to get married, I couldn’t get married with a ring because no gold was allowed in the church. Of course, that caused some problems for me as it upset the young lady’s mother,” Longhorne said.

He revealed, however, that as he matured and was exposed to various personalities, his perspective changed. Added to this, the rules of the old church headquartered in the United States began to shift to accommodate a less rigid form of Christianity—the core of which remains the same but the perspective was more modern.

Furthermore, Longhorne’s pursuit of education led him to a more liberated viewpoint. “Pursuing academics also introduced me to different personalities like Adam Harris and other persons, whom I met in college and who brought new perspectives… I was also impacted by the wisdom of great lecturers like Mr. Samuel Small who taught me in college,” Longhorne, a former student of Ann’s Grove Primary and Tutorial High School added.

He continued, “Now I am matured and liberated in the sense that I have my own understanding of the faith.”

‘SIR’ LONGHORNE

Long before he entered the teacher’s training college, ‘Sir’ Longhorne became aware that Guyanese Creole is a language. He was also aware that in spite of it being an authentic language, it did not possess international currency.

He observed too that the ‘interlanguage’ was hurting our students. Our students, therefore, had to hear this other language, Standard English, which was not their mother tongue.”

Given that he is a natural Guyanese Creole speaker, he had to move away from Creole to be able to make a living. Mr. Longhorne said that it impacted him in a particular way.

“I wanted to preach the doctrine of the authenticity of our Creole language but at the same time make my students aware of its limitations. For example, the words ‘cut eye’, there is no way to say “cut eye” in Standard English but there are other words to explain what they want to say. So my message to my students is to keep the old [Guyanese Creole] because it is good and learn the new [Standard English] because it is absolutely necessary,” he shared.

His method of teaching has certainly yielded much fruit. Many of his students have done well for themselves. He counts this among his highest professional achievements.

“I remember Ruel Johnson – a two-time Guyana Prize winner – was once a student of mine at President’s College and Cassia Alphonso – another Guyana Prize winner was my student at school of the Nations… Just to name a few. I also taught Attorney-at-law Abiola Wong-Inniss, Prominent Cardiologist, Dr. Mahendra Carpen, Eye Specialist.

Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, Attorneys, Kim Kyte, and Roger Yearwood are all the reward of my hard work,” he said, adding, “Now I have Tyrone Austin, a 13-year-old who secured Grade 1 English – a student at Chase’s Academic Foundation who is still my student.”

To this end, the teacher asserted, “I believe God has given each one of us a special gift – mine is to let the village boy or girl know that there is a piece of gold deep down inside…When he/she smiles and hands me a red-ink pen, that’s what I ask for when they pass CSEC, and says thank you ‘Sir’, I got through – that smile fuels my motivation.”

BROADCASTER

Outside of his work as a teacher, Mr. Longhorne also worked with the radio station of the National Communications Network (NCN) until the COVID-19 hit in March 2020. During his stint, he had become what some suggested as the king of late-night radio with programmes like The Triple M show, (The Music, the Magic, and the Memories), A Sunday kind of Love, and others. Longhorne had always admired the great speakers he encountered and he desired to follow suit.

He said that at college, “I had a senior, Errol Christopher, who spoke almost perfect English. In addition to that, I was a fan of former President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham, whom the late Queen Elizabeth II, herself lauded for his command of the English language. It was listening to people like those that encouraged me. I said to myself, I want to sound like that and I began to work at it.”

As a result, he revealed that he never chased the opportunities in broadcast but as he became the best at what he did, the opportunities followed.

He said, “I learned from Dr. Myles Munroe whose teaching I hold in high regard that once you find you like something and you are good at it, then you refine it to a point where you believe that nobody can do it as well as you can; once that happens the opportunities will chase you rather than you chase it.”

“That is why one of my favourite quotes is greatness lies not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well,” he said.

And that he did for 10 consecutive years. Longhorne entertained the Guyanese public with his twilight segments. The Triple M Show on Voice of Guyana was one of his pet projects. He explained, “I would play music, the music triggers a memory and the magic happens as you relive those memories for as long as the songs last.”

Although he is no longer entertaining, Mr. Longhorne said he maximizes his time “by cutting from activities I deem to be unnecessary e.g. Facebook, Tik-Tok, Saturday night ‘lies’, etc. His free time is spent being of service to his wife, Carol, their six children – Carolyn, Gee-Gee, Oneika, Andrea, Franklin Jnr, Ekwensi as well as his grandchildren – Uriel, Radiance, Javier, and Lennix. In his humble opinion, Mr. Longhorne said he believes there is no greater gift than being able to raise a strong, healthy family.

As such, he told this publication, “My greatest achievement is the fact that I have been able, with the help of the Almighty, to assist my wife to help navigate our six children through life developing in them a deep respect for God the Father and His son Jesus Christ.”  “One is a manager at a bank in St. Maarten, one is a pastor, one is a teacher, one is a communication student at UG, and two are self-employed,” he added contentedly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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