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Sagrada Família Lleida

By júlia verdaguer, on gener 30th, 2015%

Sagrada Família school is located in Lleida. They have been in the Conversation Assistants Programme almost since its beginning. Felix comes from Canada and is the Conversation Assistant who is helping teachers and students with English activities this year. You can also visit the School’s English Blog to read about activities they do with Felix and have done with previous Conversation Assistants.

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At first I was hesitant about packing up my life and moving overseas to a country, culture, and language that was completely alien to me, but it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

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The families I have stayed with have been extremely kind, hospitable, friendly, and welcoming. Each day I yearn for more chances to do activities with the kids and teenagers, and many of them are eager and good students.
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The teachers here have also been very helpful and welcoming. It’s already been three months and it’s felt like only a few weeks!
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Leave a comment   Sagrada Família - Lleida

Escola Pia Vilanova

By júlia verdaguer, on gener 26th, 2015%

Escola Pia Vilanova has been in the Conversation Assistants Program for three years. This year they are hosting Nadia, who comes from the UK and works with kids from Primary to Batxillerat. We thank Nadia and her tutor Mireia for sharing their experience with us!

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2014-10-30 09.50.49I have always liked working with children of all ages and at Escola Pia Vilanova I work with children between the ages of 6 and 18, which is perfect for me.

I was a little apprehensive when I got to Escola Pia as the school year was already underway and there was so much for me to learn about the school, scheduling and culture, not to mention the names of the 650 or so students that I would be working with! I shouldn’t have worried though because I soon became comfortable and began to adjust as all the staff at the school were very supportive and patient, making the adjustment quicker and easier.

I have enjoyed being at Escola Pia, the enthusiasm of the students rubs off on me every day and their eagerness to learn motivates me to work harder and to create new and interesting ways to teach them. I have learned the dynamics of the various classes and the personality and educational needs of the students; this has allowed me to adopt personalised teaching methods for each class.

2014-10-29 11.59.24The best part of Escola Pia for me is the diversity. I love the fact that in one day I can go from doing Arts & Crafts with 9 year olds to discussing global issues with 18 year olds, only to spend the afternoon singing Christmas Carols with 6 year olds! The joy I get from seeing a student formulate a sentence to express something they thought they couldn’t or using unexpected vocabulary is truly immeasurable.

The city of Vilanova i la Geltrú is a very eclectic one and in my free time I find pleasure in walking in random directions and discovering new stores and restaurants. I already have a favourite supermarket, ice cream parlour and bakery, all of which I discovered during my explorations. My students have given me suggestions on places to eat and things to try and I enjoy coming back each week with results and feedback on their suggestions.

The host family I’m currently residing with have been hospitable and I’ve had an introductory meeting with family members of the other two placement homes so I’m excited to experience living with them.

So far this experience has been very enjoyable and I look forward to what the rest of the experience will bring.

Leave a comment   Escola Pia Vilanova

Escolàpies Olesa

By júlia verdaguer, on gener 15th, 2015%

Over the last few months I’ve been living near Barcelona, Spain, in the small town of Olesa de Montserrat, where I also work at the Escolapies School as the English speaking assistant through the CAPS Home to Home organization.

The experience so far has been great, I’ve lived in 2 homes already. The first was the home of 4 of my students. This immersed me in the culture and language of the country as well as the more mundane day to day living. The greatest aspect of this was being able to communicate with my students on their opinion of my classes and gain feedback. The second house, and my current home, is the house of another teacher whom I work with and her family. It’s been a rewarding experience, once again being immersed in the same culture from a different point of view, the most important aspect of this was to have another teacher to consult with regularly, someone who was in the same profession as I was, however someone who was more experienced and new the inner workings of the school.

The job itself has been so rewarding to improve on my teaching techniques and knowledge of the mechanics. The school is run perfectly. I notice it’s a very rigid studious school environment, however Escolapies also takes a very artistic liberalized approach to its teaching very similar to the Montessori schools and their teaching philosophy.

My only words of advice for a family who wishes to host a language assistant is that it helps to have at the very least a basic understanding of English as it can be trying when a language barrier exists. It’s also noteworthy that in northern Spain other languages exist alongside Spanish this includes Basque, Catalan, and Gallego and even though they’re relatively similar and all have Latin origin it can still confuse you if you come to northern Spain (Barcelona area) expecting a total Spanish environment like Madrid and its surrounding area.

In a couple of weeks I move to my new host family. Everything has been great so far and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants the experience of a lifetime.

Leave a comment   General, Nostra Sra. de Montserrat - Olesa de Montserrat