Tuesday, January 20, 2009

2009: Back to Bilingual Business

Hello everyone and happy new year! Before going into what we have to look forward to in 2009, I would like to take a minute and share with you our experiences thus far.
This past fall was an exciting season for the bilingual program. Our students made a great transition into the bilingual classroom, as we were working roughly 30% of the curriculum in English. As the language assistant, it has been very rewarding to see the students improving their comprehension and growing in confidence with the English language. In Rafael Pérez Sarmiento´s class, ¨Destinations¨, the students prepared research presentations about an autonomous community in Spain. The presentations were given in English.
We have also had some nice field trips to get out and experience the tourism industry first hand. The first trip was to the Alhambra here in Granada. We had a very knowledgeable English speaking tour guide. From her, the students were able to see a tour guide in action and get some advice on working in the tourism industry. Our second trip to ¨Palacio de los Córdova¨, was also here in Granada. The bilingual presentation helped to build on the students’ now growing knowledge of the history of Granada and Andalusia. The most recent trip, taken only a week ago, was to the Interpretation Center in Sacromonte and a walking tour of the Albyzin. These trips have been great opportunities to learn about the many tourism activities available in Granada.
In December we said goodbye, temporarily, to Rafael García Cebrián. This semester he is in Liverpool, England on a grant. We wish him lots of luck and look forward to having him back next year, with a perfect British accent of course! Isidro García Azor has taken over the teaching of his classes.
The rest of this year should prove exciting. As everyone gets more comfortable with the bilingual program we are upping the classes to 60% in English. Stay tuned to our blog and we will keep you in the loop as the year goes on. Thanks!

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