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Press Release
24 October 2008

Deadline approaching for summer courses abroad for language teachers

Teachers of French and Spanish who are interested in going on one of next summer’s courses abroad run by CILT, the National Centre for Languages should apply for British Council funding by 16 January. The courses give teachers from both the primary and secondary sectors the chance to spend one or two weeks immersed in French or Spanish culture, topping up language skills, learning new teaching techniques and building a bank of resources to take back to the classroom.

For primary teachers, CILT is running courses in Spain and France between May and August of next year. For Spanish, teachers can attend the course in Tordesillas from 24-30 May, while teachers of French can choose between two courses in Lille, one from 26 July-1 August and the other from 16-22 August.

Primary courses abroad offer a lively mix of language classes with native speakers and practical teaching workshops on topics including songs, literacy and number games, puppets and story telling. Teachers also work on an ICT project, giving them the chance to create their own resources to take back to the UK. Teachers on the Tordesillas course also visit a Spanish primary school to see how languages are taught in Spain. The courses are suitable to teachers with all levels of language skills, from complete beginners to fluent speakers.

One teacher who attended the course in Lille this July said: ‘It was exactly what I wanted! It refreshed my knowledge of French and widened my understanding of French culture…I found the content very useful and thought provoking.’

For secondary teachers of Spanish, CILT is running a two-week course on Spanish for the Secondary school in Pamplona from 24 May – 6 June. The course includes language and methodology classes, visits to Spanish secondary schools and a programme of excursions, allowing participants to improve and update their language skills, develop their cultural awareness, and create materials to take back to use in class. As the course is conducted entirely in Spanish, a good knowledge of the language is essential.

Teachers can apply for funding from the British Council to contribute to the course fee, subsistence and travel costs. The deadline for funding for these three courses is 16 January 2009.

To find out more about CILT’s training opportunities abroad, visit www.cilt.org.uk/cpd/abroad.htm