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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2015 18:34:17 GMT -5
Colombia wants 8% of its students speaking English
Colombia will be sending students on intensive English language crash courses to increase the number of nationals that can speak the language.
According to the Ministry of Education, only 2.26% of high school students have an adequate grasp of the English language, which is why the government has launched a new initiative in which 3,000 students will be sent off to a two week intensive course in a bid to up the percentage to 8.
President Juan Manuel Santos and Minister of Education Gina Parody launched the “English Immersion Camps” on Wednesday, as part of the Bilingual Colombia programme.
colombiareports.com/colombia-wants-8-of-its-students-speaking-english/
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 5, 2015 18:57:38 GMT -5
Maybe they are going to send them to England?
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Post by suba on Nov 5, 2015 22:30:04 GMT -5
A two week course is not going to achieve anything that won't be reversed just as soon as they go back to their classrooms with non English speaking English teachers.
It's the English teachers that need educating, or somehow they need to pay the good teachers enough to stay in the job.
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 6, 2015 7:44:00 GMT -5
If the teachers at the immersion camps are Colombian, and they learnt English from a Colombian then the accent and pronunciation is going to be impossible to understand. If you don't believe me go to visit the salt mine cathedral in Zipa and ask for the English speaking guide.
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Post by suba on Nov 6, 2015 9:56:07 GMT -5
You can have the same experience by going to Berlitz in Bogota - supposedly an English teaching institute - the grammar test they give to potential students looks like it was written by an arepa.
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Post by gallito on Nov 6, 2015 14:45:08 GMT -5
Better yet I start my own English immersion program;my preference would be bilingual secretaries.
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Post by avispa on Nov 6, 2015 16:16:22 GMT -5
Another wasted initiative. Focus instead on getting 8% of the English teachers basially proficient in the language.
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Post by búfalo on Nov 7, 2015 16:04:41 GMT -5
3000 kids will make it 8%?
I worked at Colombo in Armenia for a bit. A circus but I have to say that the graduates were quite fluent.
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Post by juanmiguel on Nov 7, 2015 19:45:44 GMT -5
I read the article and it does say that the two week immersion camp will be taught by native English Speakers.
One student that I tutored in English went for a two week English immersion camp in Canada. He had a good time and it cost his parents a good deal of money, but I did not see much improvement in his English. So, I have doubts about the benefits of just two weeks.
The number does not seem correct to me. If 3,000 is 8% of the total, then the total is 37,500 high school students .
The article states, "The camps in Colombia will be held in March, June and November of 2016 in the cities of Pereira, Armenia, Cali, Medellin, Baranquilla and Bucaramanga and the municipality of Santadercito."
So, that must mean there are only 37,500 high school students in a country of 43 million people. Just seems low to me.
Then the top 100 will go to a camp in Michigan in the USA.
In the past the USA has given much money to programs such as this. And when I looked at the numbers for the dollars spent and the result achieved it seemed that a great deal more money than necessary went to administration and overhead. Perhaps corruption under the guise of doing something good? The article did not say, but I wonder who is footing the bill for this program.
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 7, 2015 20:34:40 GMT -5
juanmiguel ........did you just make up the part about the top 100 will go to Michigan?
I guess not:
Only 100 students will be able to attend the United States YMCA Sherman Lake Camp in Michigan, who have an advanced B1 level in English. They will also be selected from schools that have shown considerable improvements in 2015.
“In this Immersion Camp, that is focused on youth leadership development, students will be with United States and Canadian youths in a fun and positive environment, where they will be challenged to improve their leadership capacities and communication abilities in English,” said Santos.
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Post by suba on Nov 8, 2015 11:21:53 GMT -5
"I read the article and it does say that the two week immersion camp will be taught by native English Speakers."
So British teachers? Good to know.
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 8, 2015 15:05:26 GMT -5
"I read the article and it does say that the two week immersion camp will be taught by native English Speakers." So British teachers? Good to know. I thought that all the natives in Britain had died out many years ago.
We still have a few left in Australia if you want some.
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Post by gallito on Nov 8, 2015 16:38:23 GMT -5
"One student that I tutored in English went for a two week English immersion camp in Canada. He had a good time and it cost his parents a good deal of money, but I did not see much improvement in his English. So, I have doubts about the benefits of just two weeks"
The problem is the students are here to study,not party with their classmates...they hang in little groups and converse in their native language;hence their 2 week "immersion" is a waste of money.
Nevertheless Canadian accents are clearer and easier to understand.
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Post by suba on Nov 10, 2015 1:13:48 GMT -5
"Nevertheless Canadian accents are clearer and easier to understand."
Than Rocky Balboa yes.
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Post by suba on Nov 10, 2015 1:16:57 GMT -5
Btw who said this? ...It was wonderful to find America, put perhaps it would have been more wonderful to miss it.
Mark Twain, born and died there - time for bed, night.
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 10, 2015 9:23:08 GMT -5
Nobody would have any problem with other languages....and nobody would be complaining about WHO speaks the best English..........if everyone just stayed at home. Problem solved!
Have to say though that of the half of Canada that DOES speak English (not the French half), they do have a reasonably 'light' accent that seems to be constant and not vary from different cities like in USA or Britain.
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Post by suba on Nov 10, 2015 12:09:16 GMT -5
Nobody would have any problem with other languages....and nobody would be complaining about WHO speaks the best English..........if everyone just stayed at home. Problem solved! Have to say though that of the half of Canada that DOES speak English (not the French half), they do have a reasonably 'light' accent that seems to be constant and not vary from different cities like in USA or Britain. Thats because they never visit other cities, the snow means they spend most of their lives within 100 yards of their front doors
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 10, 2015 16:44:04 GMT -5
suba could be correct.
"Throughout all of Canada, English mostly has a uniform phonology and very little diversity of dialects compared to the neighbouring English of the United States."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_English
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Post by gallito on Nov 10, 2015 17:14:34 GMT -5
Snow around here...not much if any,would be nice to see a white xmas once and awhile.Oh and skiers like snow in the mountains;mind you the last few years most of the snow is man made. My Colombian students loved my classes;they called me the the handsome prince with the easy accent.
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Post by caliconnection on Nov 10, 2015 20:51:14 GMT -5
Snow around here...not much if any,would be nice to see a white xmas once and awhile.Oh and skiers like snow in the mountains;mind you the last few years most of the snow is man made. My Colombian students loved my classes;they called me the the handsome prince with the easy accent. How much aguardiente had they drunk when they said that? PS - still been decent amount of snow at Whistler the last few years, but hopefully it will be a more "typical" winter where I'll be needing to take my snorkel.
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Post by gallito on Nov 10, 2015 20:57:13 GMT -5
No guaro needed...just my smarmy demeanor.
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Post by gallito on Nov 10, 2015 21:04:33 GMT -5
Mt. Washington ski resort was sold recently to a Utah consortium,the plan is to bolster snow pack with latests snowmaking technology...to succeed they'll need to look further afield,imo summer down turn would improve if they ramped up mtn - bike offerings. btw N. Shore should be seeing some snow...real soon
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 11, 2015 15:20:57 GMT -5
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Post by barrumundi on Nov 21, 2015 8:34:03 GMT -5
www.mineducacion.gov.co/cvn/1665/w3-article-354819.html
130 docentes colombianos viajarán al Eje Cafetero para fortalecer su inglés
En el marco de la estrategia Plan de Incentivos del programa Colombia Bilingüe, del Ministerio de Educación Nacional en alianza con la Fundación Heart for Change, 130 docentes de inglés participarán en una inmersión 100% en inglés con Formadores Nativos Extranjeros, durante tres semanas en La Tebaida - Quindío (Eje Cafetero).
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