Open your home to a couple of Spanish school children, involve them in your lives, watch UK television with them, shop with them, socialize with them and give their English language skills a boost.
This is the essence of an idea dreamed up by an English resident living in Bullas who has begun to compile a database of potential host families interested in her Language Immersion Project in Murcia, Valencia, Almeria and Andalusia.
Deborah Fletcher, author of the book and blog, Bitten by Spain (The Murcian Countryside – a Baptism by Fire) and owner of the esPerro Residencia Canina de Lujo, Bullas (Luxury Kennels), who lives in Bullas, is promoting the scheme with a Spanish friend who has three children of school age.
“She and a good number of other mothers in this area are extremely proactive with regard to the improvement of their children’s spoken English,” says Deborah, who adds that the project has the full backing of the local mayor, Pedro Chico, who is as delighted by the integration aspect as by the potential educational improvements for the participating children.
Currently Deborah and her friend are developing a database of host families who have a spare room and are willing and able to open up their homes for a relatively short period of time (between three weeks and three months) to Spanish children of ten years of age and above, so that the children (the students) can practise and improve their English language speaking skills in an environment with an English host family.
How easy would it be for you to take in a young Spanish guest and speak to them in English, involve them in your daily activities, take them out and encourage them to talk to your friends: to offer them a period of immersion in life in English?
The plan is that the children would will eat with the host family, watch UK television with them, shop with them, socialise with them and generally live normally with them.
The host family would receive payment of 800€ per month for each student (with a possible 100€ premium upon the return of an excellent report from the placement student) to cover food and drink, transport, laundry and payment for their time and effort. The students would carry their own pocket money.
“We also feel strongly it would be advantageous all round to offer a double placement, if possible, so that the two students can feel mutually supportive – but they would still be required to speak English, even to each other,” says Deborah.
“ We would like to find for each placement location an English facilitator who already runs English language practice classes for the Spanish with a view to setting up a group session for the students in that area for perhaps three hours per weekday morning during the course of the placement. This allows the host family a break and will give the student a structured environment for improvement of their English alongside other placement students,” she explains.
A structured guidance sheet will be provided to the host families, with a list of possible activities and objectives – this will include normal activities like, for example: discussing a shopping list with the student for food shopping, asking them to create a written list; and letting them collect the relevant items when shopping. This would allow the host family to discuss food preferences, to talk about menus and to encourage the student to recognise products in English.
“We have looked at models for student placements overseas and for language exchange programmes. The objectives are all the same – to place a child in an immersion situation. Put them into an environment where they must speak the language of that environment, preferably for a period of at least a month, and their communication skills in that language cannot fail to be improved” says Deborah.
“However,” she continues, “placing a child overseas seems, to us, to be extreme in many ways. Extremely expensive, for a start! Extremely hard on the child, too – there isn’t much of a safety net for a young person whose family is on the other side of a large stretch of water. Plus it is logistically extremely difficult. Yet how many English families live permanently here in Spain? We have right here in Spain, under our very noses, an untapped resource.”
Any Nexonr readers who would like to participate in the scheme, which is likely to start next summer, can get in touch with Deborah by email at info@bittenbyspain.com or nexonr_calasparra@yahoo.es for more details and application forms.
“Obviously, we are looking for hosts of quality, integrity and good repute who are prepared to interact consistently with the student so that he or she comes away with an improved level of fluency in English which can only be achieved through a high level of verbal exchange.”
