We have received our first submission for the PAC News 2011-2012! Coming from Escola Sant Lluís Gonçaga, in La Garriga. It is their 2nd year in the PAC (Conversation Assistant Program)!
We thank them & their Conversation Assistant, Michele!
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Hello!
My name is Michele and i am an English conversation assistant in Escola Sant Lluís Gonçaga in la Garriga, Barcelona. I came to Spain 7 weeks ago and i am here for 9month from October till June 2012. I did not know what to expect and couldn’t speak a word of Spanish or Catalan so as you can imagine i was very nervous! But from the minute i arrived i was greeted with wonderful people who made me fell very welcome. I now know a few words and phrases in Spanish but the hardest part is finding the time to learn the language!
I live with a family in la Garriga only a 15minute walk away from the school, their son Pau is in 1st Primary at this school. I am staying with the same family for the entire 9month. I practice English everynight with Pau and i am pleased with how well his progress is coming along everyday he is learning new words and building short sentences. He understands me a lot more than he did just 7 weeks ago! I would love to be able to have a conversation with him by the end of the programme, for me this would be a great achievement.
I work in the school everyday Mon-Fri and help the students practice their English speaking. I work with all ages from as young as P3 up untill 4th of ESO (3-16 years). The level of English varies from each individual, with the ESO students i have grouped them together according to their level, i take small groups of 4-5 students and we do alot of speaking and listening activities in the lessons and we play some fun games. I also like to practice role plays with them as they seem to enjoy this and it gets them talking in a fun way. I try to keep it as interesting as possible so that it gets everyone involved even the shy ones!
With the primary children it’s slightly different as i work along side the teacher in the classroom and we work from the activity book. Sometimes i prepare games for the children related to what they are doing in class and take a few students at a time into a separate room where we can practice speaking. We tend to read stories and then act them out, the younger students can get very excited and enthusiastic about this! Most of the students are very enthusiastic about speaking with me in English, and all the teachers have been very friendly, they are also happy to help me with my Spanish.
I also do some extra lessons with students after school. This is a good way of making some extra money and I find a lot of parents are waiting to give their children the opportunity of speaking with a native English person.
In my free time i often spend time with the family, a very big family! Sundays are usually family orientated days where we visit the grandparents and they prepare a big meal for everyone. I also go to nearby towns such as Sabadell and Granollers, these towns are beautiful with many shops, bars, restaurants etc… Barcelona is about 40minute train jouney from la Garriga.
My favourite thing about being in Spain are the people, everyone is so friendly and cheerful they make you feel very welcome and it is a privilege to be staying in Catalunya.
I have learnt alot from the 7weeks i have been and look forward to learning alot more within the coming months. So far it has been a wonderful experience and i would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this type of work.
Michele.
