(SECTION 2 – placement provider overview)

Hi,

I plan to use this blog to keep a record of my time here in Italy as part of my Learning from Life placement. I am working in a language centre teaching English to children, teenagers and adults. The centre is called Global Find and it is run by our hosts Daniela and, Ida, alongside another associate, Francesco, who works in accounting. Daniela regularly teaches classes within the school as well as planning and resourcing the lessons for the other 2 teachers who are employed by Global Find, Katia and Gilda. The school relies on mothertongue volunteering to support their growing business throughout the year. The school opened almost 2 years ago and has grown to provide over 100 students with regular English lessons – following the ‘Cambridge English’ curriculum. They have recently expanded their school to offer lessons within the nearby city of Pompeii.

The parents of the students are highly involved in discussing their child’s progress. Daniela and Ida regularly meet with parents to keep them up to date and discuss any issues. From what I’ve witness, parents are very focused on ensuring their children learn English from a Young age because of its preceived importance within modern society. A lot of university courses in Italy require a certain level of English to be achieveed within its entry requirements.

The teachers each bring an individual and unique teaching background to the school. Daniela previous worked in an English language school before setting up Global Find. In addition, she lived with her family in Scotland for a number of years while also returning in her early 20s to complete a university course at King’s College in Aberdeen. Gilda originates from England but relocated to Italy with her husband who is originally from this area. She is therefore bilingual and can provide a deeper understanding to the children by translate their new English vocabulary into the Italian translation. Katia is Italian but studied English at university and then went on to become an elementary school teacher in Scafati. She, like Gilda, is able to provide the translation to her pupils which mothertongue volunteers, like myself, cannot. She can also empathise with the pupils in her class because she has been in their position, having grown-up in Italy and learned English at a language school throughout her childhood.

The school relies on help from volunteers throughout the year to support their growing business. She has hosted bolunteers from the USA and English in the past. She looks for mothertongue speakers so the students can understand different ways the english language is spoken through different accents and dialects.

The students at the school range in age and abilities – from 3 years old to adult classes. Ability includes absolute beginner, beginner, intermediate and advanced and is given the scale from A1 – C2.

FRIDAY

Jemma, Lisa and I landed in Naples on Friday (15/3/19) and were thrown into the deep end, teaching our first lessons that evening. The school host classes in the morning – mainly private 1-2-1 lessons either in person or over video-call – and in the evening for children, teenagers and adult classes in a various of levels. There are additional classes on Saturday mornings for those who cannot attend during the week.

My class on Friday was from 6-7:30pm and consisted of 7 16-17 year olds completing B1 level. Students at this stage have a good understanding of conversation english and was working to improve their knowledge of grammar ahead of their exams in June. At the beginning of the lesson, I introduced myself and told the class about some of my interests and hobbies. They did the same in return before officially starting the lesson. The lesson plan was focused on fashion and learning vocabulary surrounding the types of clothes and pattern worn on a catwalk during a fashion show.

SATURDAY

On Saturday morning (10am-12pm), Lisa and I co-taught a lesson to the ‘Puppies’ who study pre-A1 level. The children are between the age of 4 and 7 and cannot read or write. The lesson was on vegetables. We used flashcards to teach the vocabulary (carrot, potato, leek etc.) and then proceeded to play games used their new words.