Mijas re-starts the 'I Speak English' programme. This initiative launched by the Department for Foreigners is aimed at students in the third and fourth years of secondary school in La Cala and is developed thanks to the collaboration of the members of the Association of Volunteer Interpreters in Mijas, Aivomi. Improving and complementing education in an international municipality such as Mijas is one of the objectives of this activity, which began before the pandemic. "It is a programme that is designed so that English language students can have the opportunity, through native English-speaking volunteers, to understand different accents in English as well as how to pronounce the language correctly", explained Arancha López (Cs), councillor in charge of the department.
Currently, it is being carried out in only two schools but, little by little, they will try to extend it to the rest of the schools. To this end, the councillor for Education, Mariló Olmedo (Cs), encouraged "all schools to collaborate, as the Education Department will send all the information about this programme so that anyone who wants to participate can do so", and she also wanted to thank "all the volunteers for the work they do". To make this possible, the group is seeking volunteers who speak English or French. Those interested can collaborate by emailing aivomi.schools@gmail.com or by calling 685 366 276.
Benefits of the programme
"We want to highlight this initiative that the volunteers are carrying out in schools to help youths to better manage the language once they have finished their studies. This is an opportunity that should not be overlooked because there are few like this", said one of the members of Aivomi, Wenceslao Navarro. Meanwhile, the English teacher at IES Torre Almenara, Dulce Rodríguez, pointed out that " they feel more relaxed when they see that there is no one around them and they are talking face to face with a person who endeavours to understand them, as they try to express themselves as best they can, which motivates them to continue using and practising the language, that is to say, they overcome their fear of speaking".
The talks take place during school hours and students and volunteers engage in fluent conversations. "I think this has helped us a lot because not all of us have the chance to go to extracurricular classes and having someone who is there a few times a week to help us with everything transmits confidence and I really like it", concluded one of the students at the centre, Amanda Polack.
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