Suzanne Sparrow: 100 years old and still involved with her language school

She waved the Americans off to D-Day in 1944, founded her pioneering ELT school in 1978 and was wished a happy 100th birthday in Parliament by her local MP. Not only has Suzanne Sparrow led a long and extraordinary life, but she's still involved in the running of the Plymouth school that bears her name.

'I have had an extraordinarily interesting and very happy life. I have been very lucky and life has been kind to me,' she reflects, from the home office where she stays in touch with the school now run by her daughter Hilary Desvernay.

Thousands of students, £40m revenue for Plymouth

At an open afternoon to celebrate her 100th birthday, attended by host families and teachers from over the years as well as local officials and MP Luke Pollard, Suzanne was asked how many students had come to the school in the past 46 years. 'I was talking to the deputy lord mayor and said we have brought in thousands of people and must have benefited the economy by £40m. All the money stayed in Plymouth and we were 10 years ahead of any other language school that started.

'We've done a lot of PR for Britain, not just Plymouth.'

D-Day landings

Leaving school at 16, with the family home destroyed by the Blitz, Suzanne joined the Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) boat crews at 17 and served during the war. For reasons she still doesn't understand, she was the only person who saw off the American servicemen joining their D-Day landing craft. As a D-Day veteran, the Navy held a 100th birthday celebration for her.

After the war, trained in shorthand typing and book-keeping, she began work for the world's leading research station for underwater paint, introducing her to her future husband and to professionals coming to the UK without English skills.

'I thought, there isn't anywhere to brush up or learn English… I was talking to someone one day and I said there's no language school here and I think I should start one. He said 'Don't stop! Get ahead.'

Hundreds of hand-picked homestay hosts

Mitsubishi opened a factory in Plymouth and the early language school clients were Japanese workers and their families, often in their homes when she thought people would be too scared to attend a class. 'Not being a teacher I approached setting up a school from a different angle. My forte was visiting families and choosing families for the students. I knew I couldn't train to be a teacher it was too late as I was already starting the business.' At one point she had 200-300 homestays on her books and carefully matched each with incoming students, taking calls at all hours of the day if there were problems.

Meeting hundreds of students off the ferry

Student numbers increased dramatically when Brittany Ferries began running passenger services from Roscoff to Plymouth. Suzanne made contact with the English teachers in French secondary schools close to the ferry port. 'I know how difficult it is to speak a language. I thought I had to choose the right family for these students coming over - the younger ones must come two together because they will be shy and insecure and I have to dovetail with what they are learning in school.

'420 came off the ferry at one time - I met every ferry that came in and I saw them out. One school used to send me 500 people.'

What does UK ELT need?

If she could do one thing to help UK ELT, what would it be? 'English is still the world's leading language, the language of communication. The UK government seems to neglect the fact they've got such an ace in their hands. Somebody needs to realise that. If I were younger, I would go to Parliament and say what I feel.'

>> Suzanne Sparrow Plymouth Language School