Mobility and Job skills: to learn languages and to go abroad a positive experience: The ability to understand and communicate in more than one languageMobility and Job skills: to learn languages and to go abroad a positive experience: The ability to understand and communicate in more than one language - already a daily reality for the majority of people across the globe - is a desirable life-skill for all European citizens. Learning and speaking other languages encourages us to become more open to others, their cultures and outlooks; it enables us to take advantage of the freedom to work or study abroad(more)(less)
Jose Luis de Cea starts with a role-play exercise where the students go to the future and become Managers looking for hiring an employee. Which are theJose Luis de Cea starts with a role-play exercise where the students go to the future and become Managers looking for hiring an employee. Which are the most suitable skills and qualifications?: Job Offer: “Find the best candidate to work as the general manager of our new office in London. He/She will have to build a competitive team and expand our brand in the European market.(more)(less)
Ričardas thinks that all people from different EU countries can communicate even if they don‘t speak any languages. Art is - general-purpose language,Ričardas thinks that all people from different EU countries can communicate even if they don‘t speak any languages. Art is - general-purpose language, which doesn‘t need translation.
Ričardas Vainas. Menų mokytojas
Ričardo nuomone, su visomis Europos tautomis galima bendrauti net nežinant kalbos. Yra viena universali kalba, kuri nereikalauja jokio vertimo yra menai.(more)(less)
Direzione Didattica Statale I° Circolo "San Filippo", Città di Castello, Umbria Region celebrated its first European Day of Languages this year. ToDirezione Didattica Statale I° Circolo "San Filippo", Città di Castello, Umbria Region celebrated its first European Day of Languages this year. To promote the European and International Dimension of Education is one of the most important goals in our school vision, in harmony with the Italian Community strategy (see document "Più scuola in Europa, più Europa nella scuola", 21 June 2007). On the occasion of two recent ‘Conferenze di Servizio’ Regional School Directorate for Umbria has recognised DEURE as a priority for every Umbrian school.
I° Circolo “San Filippo” is therefore strongly involved in drawing up its own local DEURE Project.
Our participation in the E.D.L 2007 was based on the following actions:
a) support to the E.D.L exhibition organized in Wrexham – Wales (UK) by the local Europe Direct (Europe Direct Carrefour Umbria forwarded the request for cooperation in summer).
Pupils of ‘Martiri della Libertà’ and Rignaldello Primary Schools prepared various drawings about Città di Castello and Northern Tiber Valley. “San Filippo” Primary School sent to Wrexham photographs of St. Francis of Assisi – bronze statue in Gubbio, by Roberto Bellucci and a tale from the ‘Little Flowers’, “St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio”. We chose Francis as a European and Global symbol of Freedom, Equality, Purity, Wisdom, Brotherhood and Peace: a true model of Leadership.
b) several electronic cooperation activities aiming at establishing an effective elearning environment for pupils, teachers, parents and the whole school community. We are currently operating on www.etwinning.net and www.epals.com web portals for schools and profitably interacting with Morocco, Egypt, Ecuador, China, Michigan, Florida, California, Illinois, France, Romania.
c) Thursday 27 Sept. 2007, “San Filippo” Primary School, from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm. “We are Europe. We are the World” school circle for Grades 3, 4 and 5 with young European volunteers: synergy with the EU ‘Youth in Action’ – European Voluntary Service. We welcomed Matilde (Italy), Liva (Latvia), Valerie (Austria) and Mariana (Portugal), cooperation with “Lavori in Corso” cultural association (Perugia). The volunteers introduced their Countries, played language and intercultural games with pupils and teachers.(more)(less)
We asked, if you could wake up tomorrow and be completely fluent in another European language, which language would you choose? We had some very differentWe asked, if you could wake up tomorrow and be completely fluent in another European language, which language would you choose? We had some very different answers!
Maaike, from The Netherlands, chose Spanish, because she likes it and thinks it is the most widely spoken language after English.
Katherine, from Scotland, chose Gaelic, a language indigenous to Scotland, because she would be able to study the old texts and read the poetry; and Norwegian, because she wants to specialise in Viking archaeology and it would be useful for her studies. She also says that we should learn ‘global’ languages such as Spanish – and maybe other global languages such as the different forms of Chinese.
Marianne, from England, chose Italian – because she’s never been to Italy but would like to explore it, and the language would help her learn more about the country; part of her husband’s family is originally from Italy, and she would like make that link as well.(more)(less)
Katherine, from Glasgow in Scotland, doesn’t think so. The UK has a number of indigenous languages, but, although it’s possible to learn Welsh in schoolsKatherine, from Glasgow in Scotland, doesn’t think so. The UK has a number of indigenous languages, but, although it’s possible to learn Welsh in schools in Wales, she didn’t have the opportunity to learn Gaelic, the indigenous language of Scotland. There is a Gaelic primary school and a Gaelic secondary school, but opportunities to learn outside of that are limited. A lot of attention is paid to Gaelic culture – 2007 is The Year of Highland Culture – but Katherine thinks that if children don’t have the opportunity to learn the language at school, the language and culture will die out. She doesn’t think it should be compulsory, but children should have the option to learn it.(more)(less)
Marianne, a schoolteacher from England, talks about her experiences of learning languages at school; she studied French for 6 or 7 years at school, andMarianne, a schoolteacher from England, talks about her experiences of learning languages at school; she studied French for 6 or 7 years at school, and feels that the tuition she had prepared her well for being in France, and gave a good basis in grammar and vocabulary - but she needed the opportunity to practice in real situations to gain confidence. Marianne says that being able to speak a European language helps you to be accepted. She feels embarrassed if she can’t speak the local language, but says that with so many cheap plane tickets you inevitably go to different countries and have to get by with just a few words.(more)(less)
Katherine says she can only just about get by in French – even after she studied for 5 years at school and did an extra year afterwards. She also didKatherine says she can only just about get by in French – even after she studied for 5 years at school and did an extra year afterwards. She also did 3 years of German, and went on an exchange trip with a German school – but the Germans’ knowledge of English was much better than her knowledge of German! Katherine thinks the problem is because of the way we are taught in the UK - too much focus on reading and writing instead of speaking and listening; in the German school the English lessons were conducted completely in English, but in her school the German lessons were conducted in English not German. As a consequence, she doesn’t feel she has the skills, vocabulary, or confidence to hold a conversation in French or German. Perhaps we need to change our approach to language education in the UK.(more)(less)
Marianne, a schoolteacher, says that if there is going to be an official second language of the EU it would probably be English, but she doesn’t thinkMarianne, a schoolteacher, says that if there is going to be an official second language of the EU it would probably be English, but she doesn’t think it should be taught as a compulsory subject in schools – it’s better that people learn English because they feel it’s useful to them. She also worries that if English is compulsory then people in the UK would have no incentive to learn European languages, which would create a barrier – many people don’t already, and it reflects badly on us because it looks like we think we are better than everyone else! Marianne thinks people in the UK don’t learn European languages because they travel to places like cities, where English is more widely spoken – but if you don’t speak the local language it’s difficult to sort out problems, and makes it difficult to go into more remote areas because you can’t communicate properly.(more)(less)
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