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22 September 2021
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Story Michelle Nöthling
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Photo Supplied
Annemarie Le Roux.
“I love working with children.” This is one of the first things Annemarie le Roux mentions when asked to describe herself. This love for children propelled Annemarie into the field of education and she graduated in 2006 with a BEd in Foundation Phase at the UFS. Annemarie immediately immersed herself in the Deaf community, enriching the lives of children at the Thiboloha School for the Deaf in Qwaqwa and the De la Bat School for the Deaf in Worcester.
The academic world enticed Annemarie back to the University of the Free State (UFS) and she was appointed as a junior lecturer in the Department of South African Sign Language (SASL) and Deaf Studies in 2013. Going from strength to strength, Annemarie completed her master’s degree in SASL in 2019, and published an
article earlier this year that she co-wrote with Marga Stander. In this article, they found that SASL “has become an increasingly popular language that hearing university students want to learn as a second language” and subsequently explored different teaching methods used for this emerging group of interested students.
Although now firmly established in academia, Annemarie is still committed to the practical application of SASL. “I am closely involved in student and community engagement through the
SIGNALS Sign Language student association that helps empower the Deaf community and South African Sign Language.” She also interprets for the Deaf community whenever she gets an opportunity, as well as for Deaf students in class and meetings.
On the importance of Sign Language and the recognition of the Deaf community in South Africa, Annemarie believes it will open greater opportunities for development. “More people will be able to learn SASL, and it might even become a subject in school for hearing children.”
Tennis: Kovsies beat Campsbay in Club Championships
2008-03-04
The tournament took place in East Londen the same time as the South African open championships for men. The Kovsie men and ladies team represented Free State in the club championships. The tournament consisted of a men and ladies sections and involved 45 teams (135 players) from all tennis provinces in the country.
After the first three days the round robin phases were completed and it was time for the semi finals, finals and play off. The men’s team played great tennis and finished fifth in the tournament. An excellent achievement if one takes into consideration that the tournament included players like Ruan Roeloefse (who played in the SA open) and Pietie Norval who represented South Africa on the tennis court a couple of years ago.
The ladies played brilliant tennis and had to play the finals against Campsbay who was the defending champions. The Kovsie team consisted of Karin Coetzee, Michelle van Staden and Elrien de Villiers. After the two singles ties the Kovsies already won the championships and the doubles game wasn’t played. If one takes into consideration that the ladies team also won SASSU in December, they are for sure worthy champions at this stage.