A sample text widget
Etiam pulvinar consectetur dolor sed malesuada. Ut convallis
euismod dolor nec pretium. Nunc ut tristique massa.
Nam sodales mi vitae dolor ullamcorper et vulputate enim accumsan.
Morbi orci magna, tincidunt vitae molestie nec, molestie at mi. Nulla nulla lorem,
suscipit in posuere in, interdum non magna.
|
By júlia verdaguer, on juny 6th, 2012 Siobhan comes from Ireland and she has been a Conversation Assistant in Col·legi Escorial (Vic) for 9 months and has had a great experience. Thanks for e-mailing us!
……………………………………………………
Hello! My name is Siobhan Walsh and I am the conversational assistant at Escorial Vic. I arrived in Catalonia at the beginning of October last year. Ever since then I have been able to experience new things, meet new people and gain a lot of experience.
When I first arrived here I was welcomed into the home of a very special family. I immediately felt at home here and they made the transition from living in Ireland to living here so much easier for me. My second family were exactly the same and luckily for me, so are the third family! I have been extremely lucky!
The school has been no different! All the teachers have been so welcoming and friendly. Even the teachers who have very little English are so nice and always speak with me in Spanish. My two tutors, Gemma and Marta, have been fantastic. They are always there if I have a question or need some help.
The students here are great! My job is to encourage them to speak English through activities and games. I work with students from 3rd class in primary to 4th of ESO. With the 3rd and 4th of primary I assist the teacher in the classroom. We play games and do role plays. With 5th and 6th of primary I do CLIL. I think this is a great idea for the students to learn other subjects in English. We have done topics such as Biology and Geography. In ESO, the larger classes are divided into groups and 6-8 students will come with me to do speaking activities. I have really enjoyed my classes with all of these students. They have been very enthusiastic and we have had a lot of funny moments.
This program is a great experience for people who want to try something new. I have met some great people both through the school and through the program who I know I will remain friends with. I would definitely recommend this experience to other people.
By júlia verdaguer, on juny 4th, 2012 The school year is coming to an end and in a few days most of the Conversation Assistants will be flying back to their countries. For the most of them it has been a great year. Like for Leigh, who has been staying in FEDAC Manresa – Santa Rosa de Lima.
We thank him and his tutor, Alba, for writing to us and sending pictures!
……………………………………………………………
 It was purely by luck that I found this placement, and it’s been one of the best bits of luck in my life!! I was browsing the internet and saw an advert and thought I would reply.
I have been travelling all of my life and saw the opportunity to live and work in a different country and jumped at the chance. The days before my departure were very nervous because I didnt know what to expect, but from the second I arrived I felt very comfortable.
 My time at Dominiques has been a fantastic experience. A school with fantastic students and very friendly, helpful and supportive teachers, all of which I will remember for the rest of my life.
It’s been amazing to see the progression of the students over the last nine months and it makes me extremely proud to see the improvement of the students in English, and I think it has been very benficial to the school to have me over the school year. I have gained valuable teaching experience within the school and it has opened up lots of opportunities for me wihin the city. It has been so much of an amazing experience that I now plan to live here in Catalunya!! The people I have met and the experiences I have had will have a place in my heart forever.
Gràcies per tot Dominiques i gràcies per tot Manresa!
By júlia verdaguer, on maig 30th, 2012 Katherine and her tutor Montse have also emailed us to tell us about their experience and send us some pictures. Thanks a lot!
………………………………………………………………..
Katherine is a girl from Plymouth who has spent the whole course with us in FEDAC-Ripollet (Mare de Déu del Roser). To have had an English conversation assistant has been a good idea because the children have improved their listening and speaking skills a lot. She has practiced English with all the children in school (from P3 to Year 6)
Montse Barros (Katherine’s tutor)
I have been living in Catalonia since October now; working as a conversation
assistant in a school in Ripollet and I have to say that it is one of the best experiences of my life. Everyone out here is very friendly and I am really enjoying every moment.
I work in a primary school with children from the ages of 3-12. The students are very enthusiastic and really enjoy the challenge of speaking English (most of them at least!!). I have been made to feel very comfortable from the very beginning, being invited on various school trips and participating in all the school activities. The teachers are all really friendly, making the effort to speak in English and helping me in my feeble attempts to learn Spanish; they even put time for Spanish lessons with the younger students into my timetable.
With the students I usually take small groups of 5 or 6 students from each class every lesson for half an hour and revise vocabulary with them, talk about different topics, play games in English and go over grammar. Sometimes I also give presentations about life in England to the whole class and afterwards we talk about the differences between Catalonia and England. I have also been helping in the School Song Contest.
And I couldn’t have chosen a better family to live with this year if I had tried. They told me I was in my own house from the beginning of October and are making sure that I see everything there is to see in Catalonia before my time here is up.
Basically this year has just been amazing and I will definitely miss Catalonia when I go back to England!
Katherine Weir
By júlia verdaguer, on maig 8th, 2012 Joseph is a Conversation Assistant at FEDAC Sagrat Cor in Santa Coloma de Gramenet. He and his tutor, Veronica, have sent us a lot of great photos. We have posted some here, but don’t forget to visit our flickr to see the rest of them. Thanks a lot, Joseph & Veronica!
……………………………………………….
Says Joseph:
I will begin by saying that as a person, I feel compelled to ask a good friend in his house if I can get a glass of water in case I somehow violate a primary and immutable law. That is the level of awkwardness I possess. However before even my basic pheromones were through the door to my host family’s house, the school’s too, that all disappeared. The host families have all been terrific and have given me an incredible amount of support. Before I came here in October I had no knowledge of Spanish or Catalan but this didn’t stop the families from encouraging or helping me with learning. I am now in my 3rd household and by the end of the first day I was actually made to feel like the house I was in was my own.
The school is no different and appears to be filled with people who rank ‘Helping others’ somewhere between breathing and basic motor functions. This attribute seems prevalent throughout Catalonia and doesn’t stop at the school gates. From the first day, my tutor was unyielding in her commitment to make me feel as comfortable as possible. She doesn’t just treat me as another student to take care of however, but with the same respect as other faculty members and had no problems in helping me outside of school with various other problems. The other teachers were the same; all of them try their English with me or help with my Spanish. One of the teachers came with me and waited for half an hour just to create my bank account. Another came to the Police Station for my work papers which began with a 20 minute queue and she was out smiling me by quite a bit.
In the school I teach children from the ages of 6 to 16 which for me offers the perfect balance of enriching and interesting days of work. We play games, help each other with issues we find difficult (this applies to my Spanish too) and sometimes it is talking that I find to be the best form of teaching as you feel the gulf between student and teacher isn’t really there and both parties can learn.
To be honest, at its most concentrated, joining the CAPS programme has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in 23 years. Given that I’m 23, I’d resolutely recommend the pursuit of this course to those not just interested in teaching or travelling, but to those who want to look at life from a different point of view for a few months.
By júlia verdaguer, on abril 27th, 2012 Andy is a Conversation Assistant in Escola Sagrada Família, in Lleida. He arrived in December and has since been enjoying his time here. So have the students and teachers at the school, and his two host families. Everyone’s English has improved!
………………………………………………………………………..
Hello my name is Andy. I am a conversation assistant in Sagrada Familia School, Lleida. I studied Philosophy at university, and after decided that I wanted to travel to another country to work. Through this I began a TEFL course, and at the beginning of November I applied to be a conversation assistant with CAPS and Home to Home. Three weeks later I was flying out to Spain.
I teach in classes from first of primary to second BATX, so I am getting the most out of my experience. My first week was spent observing classes, and after that I began to get more responsibility in them. Both of my tutors for primary and secondary are so helpful when it comes to lessons, and they made me feel very comfortable in the classroom environment.
With the younger primary classes, I play games to help improve their vocabulary, and practice speaking with them. They are always very keen to ask me lots of questions, which can only be a good thing, as they are encouraged to speak English. With the older primary classes, we divide the class into two groups, and I take one half to do an activity and the next week we switch the groups around.
In ESO classes and BATX things are very different, but I enjoy it all the same. My tutor Ana gives me many opportunities to not only help the students practice speaking, but also take control of classes on a weekly basis, where I take the class through different activities and work with them like their own teacher. I also get the opportunity to try out ideas for lessons with Ana in the class which I really enjoy, especially when I know that the students enjoy it.
In my time here in Lleida I am living with two families. The first family I was living with until the end of March. They are some of the nicest people I have ever met, and were so welcoming to me when I first arrived. The parents didn´t speak English but there was no awkwardness between us at all. They are all so nice. In the family there is a son who is roughly the same age as me which was good, as we have similar interests. The two daughters have an excellent level of English, and we were always laughing and joking every day. I felt like part of the family, even with the Gran who also lived in the house. It has been an incredible experience living with them and I was sad to leave. The new family I’m living with has given me a different but equally incredible experience. Rather than living in the city I’m staying in a village 5 minutes from the city. I’m enjoying having a different life.
So far my experience here has been incredible and literally don’t have a bad word to say about it. Some weeks ago, I was visited by Raquel, one of the girls from Home to Home, and Júlia from FECC to see how I was getting on. I thought was a good thing, as it shows both of them are doing their jobs correctly. I am having an amazing time here in Spain and don’t plan on leaving the country.
By júlia verdaguer, on abril 13th, 2012 Estem preparant l’arribada de la quarta promoció d’auxiliars de conversa a les escoles que participen al Programa Auxiliars de Conversa (PAC) i a les cases de les famílies que, generosament, s’han ofert a acollir-los.
Des de l’organtizació del PAC hem convocat tres sessions informatives obertes a tothom: famílies acollidores, famílies interessades, direccions i mestres d’escola, etc. En aquestes reunions parlarem de què suposa acollir un auxiliar de conversa a casa, com podem facilitar la seva integració a la família i al nostre país i, és clar, donarem resposta a totes les preguntes que pugueu plantejar-nos.
Demarcació de Lleida – Dimarts, 8 de maig, 18:00h
Lloc: Escola Lestonnac L’Ensenyança. Av. Prat de la Riba, 38. Lleida
Demarcació de Girona – Dimecres, 9 de maig, 18:00h
Lloc: Escola Maristes Girona. Av Josep Tarradellas, 5-7. Girona
Demarcació de Barcelona – Dijous, 10 de maig, 18:00h
Lloc: Escola Pia Balmes. Carrer Balmes, 208. Barcelona
Podeu descarregar-vos un model de circular i un cartell per a promocionar les sessions en els següents enllaços:
> Model circular PDF
> Model circular word
> Cartell PDF
> Cartell word
Si us plau, en cas que vingueu a alguna de les sessions, confirmeu la vostra assistència al correu pac@escolacristiana.org, indicant a quina de les tres sessions assistireu, i quantes persones vindreu.
By júlia verdaguer, on abril 2nd, 2012 Happy Easter holidays, everyone!
We leave you with a great idea for a board game that Wendy, Conversation Assistant at Col·legi Claver, has sent us. It’s a great way to get students speaking and it is adaptable to all schools.
Thanks a lot, Wendy!
…………………………………………….
I have to prepare many different activities for the children of Claver, including songs, games and quizzes, to rouse their interest in the English language and get them to practice their pronunciation (which is the main reason they learn with me!)
Recently, with sixth year, the students have been playing a board game, called
‘A Day at School’, which I adapted from a website, specifically made for learners of English as a foreign language. The game includes a board which features pictures of different areas of a school, including classrooms, playground, swimming pool and cafeteria and before starting the game I test the students understanding of each area.
Students roll the dice and move their counters around the board. If they land on a red spot, they have to take an action card and read it aloud to the other players. The action card tells them that a specific teacher has asked them to go to a specific area of the school so they must move their counter to the corresponding picture. I adapted the game so that the action cards feature actual teachers of Claver, making the game more personal to the students and when the first student reads an action card aloud, it usually produces a laugh and encourages them to speak further about the instruction.
 If a student lands on an area of the school without being asked to go there by a teacher, the student to the right of the current player must ask them why they are in that area, for example, if a student lands on the library, the player to their right would ask, “Why are you in the library?” and the student whose counter is in the library has to reply. There are no rules as to what the student can, or cannot say, as long as they speak English and their answer makes sense, so they could say, “I am in the library because I want to read a book”, for example.
To win the game, players must have at least three action cards before making their way to ‘Goal’ on the board.
By júlia verdaguer, on març 19th, 2012 Alex is a Conversation Assistant in Escola Pare Coll in Vic. He arrived in January and has quickly adapted to his new school, new home and new way of life, with an open mind and with the help of the school and his host family. We hope he enjoys the next months as much as possible too!
…………………………………………………………………………………..
I moved to Vic, Catalonia in january of this year. The first few days I spent with my adopted family who, it must be said, are brilliant. They were extremely welcoming and have continued to be conscientious, warm and generous ever since, especially in allowing me to be part of their family and including me in their daily activities. I have had fun trying to get their three sons to speak English (mostly while playing basketball and/or football), and they are coming along very well. I’m lucky that they speak some english and they have introduced me to different aspects of Catalan culture and to various people of different ages so i have never felt isolated in this new place.
My experience at school has been very fun too. I have been lucky, once again, that my tutor and the rest of the teaching staff have been incredibly helpful and welcoming and continue to be so each and every day. The school is large, with students from 5 to 16 years, but we have found that games and dialogues have been very successful in encouraging the children to speak english. Interestingly, a large number of ESO students are going to London in the near future so I have been trying to give them an idea of what to expect and certain tips insider tips on the city. I also regularly help with pronunciation, grammar and any other linguistic questions they may have. We have a strict ‘only English’ rule in class wherever possible.
Overall, my experience of Catalonia has been very special. I have felt comfortable from the start and this is down to the warmth and support of the people around me. I’m very confident that I am not the only conversation assistant to feel this way! I would wholeheartedly recommend this experience to others.
Gracies i Adeu.
By júlia verdaguer, on març 12th, 2012 Jonathan is a Conversation Assistant in Escola Pia Sitges who works with students in Primary, Secondary and Batxillerat. He’s having a great time in Catalonia and everyone in his school is having a great experience too. Thanks for writing and sending photos!
…………………………………………………….
 Since moving to Catalonia in October I have been involved in a variety of interesting, enjoyable and challenging situations. After applying for the CAPS program, I was told I would be placed in a small beach town that I had not previously heard of – Sitges. Sitges is a well-known tourist destination, popular for the many beautiful beaches and nightlife both in the town and in neighbouring Barcelona.
 On arrival at Barcelona airport (El Prat), the new assistants were greeted by members of the CAPS administration. We were then taken to a hotel and provided with some valuable training and information regarding our work placements. I found this training very reassuring, as all members of staff seemed happy and eager to answer questions or any doubts that we had. The following day, the excitement began to build as our host families began to arrive and whisk us off to our new Catalan homes.
I am extremely happy and have a great relationship with my family, they are extremely generous and have made me feel very welcome in their home. It will be sad day when the time comes to leave! We improve each others language skills by speaking Castilian, Catalan and English on alternating days.
 My working life here in the school continues to be interesting, enjoyable and provides me with new challenges on a daily basis. I work with primary, secondary (or ESO as it is known as here) and 6th form (Batxillerat) students providing English conversation games, role plays, listening exercises and often team-teaching in conjunction with the local teacher. I have also been able to start some small musical workshops which is a nice break for both the students and I!
To conclude, I am thoroughly enjoying my experience in Catalonia and would especially recommend the program to anyone who would consider teaching as a future career path.
By júlia verdaguer, on març 7th, 2012 We have received another submission, this time from Escola Mare de Déu de la Mercè, FEDAC-Sant Andreu in Barcelona. We thank them for taking the time to write!
…………………………………………………….
Hola, sóc l’Helena, tutora del nostre assistent de conversa, el Kai Collins.
Quan em van encomanar aquesta tasca em costava fer-me a la idea d’una persona de parla anglesa voltant per la nostra escola. En pocs dies, no només em vaig acostumar a aquest fet, sinó que de seguida li vaig trobar els avantatges. És un luxe poder comunicar-nos a l’escola en anglès en el dia a dia. Les nostres sales de profes han fet un canvi, s’han enriquit. Igualment s’han enriquit les classes, els passadissos, el menjador i els patis… A l’Escola Mare de Déu dela Mercè, FEDAC Sant Andreu l’anglès ja no és només competència dels professors d’aquesta llengua, ara l’anglès és més viu gràcies a la presència del Kai.
Helena Giménez i Medina
Being a conversation assistant in Barcelona is the best thing I´ve ever done, especially in terms of work!
Since arriving here at the start of October I have settled into Spanish life even though before moving here I had never spoken a word of Spanish or Catalan. When first arriving I felt so excited by what the next year or more had in store for me and the excitement hasn´t dwindled. I am now living with my second host family and both have been amazing at helping me to become part of their family whilst still recognising that I am an adult and treating me like one.
Having never considered teaching before moving to another country and becoming one was a big step, and one that I´m glad I made, teaching children from the age of 3 to 16 is great as every lesson is different and I never get bored of the same old class all day. The teachers at the school have been amazing at helping me teach in class and feel welcome. My tutor has been especially good to me helping me with anything that I need, such as taking me to the hospital for appointments as I am diabetic and introducing me to her niece who teaches me Spanish. Moving to Barcelona was the best decision I’ve made in a long time and I would highly recommend it to anyone (and already have!).
Kai Collins
|
|
