TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Luis Fernando Marcelino
“SPEAKEASY” wants to promote language learning and linguistic diversity across the EU-MS and to increase participation in LifeLongLearning at all ages. “SPEAKEASY” addresses migrants with various cultural, religious and social backgrounds and differing levels of host country language proficiency.
“SPEAKEASY” is employing an innovative way of learning languages by applying a flexible and practical method of learning, focusing on real life situations and challenges in everyday life in the host country. The learning environment and teaching methods are language clubs in one or the other recreational activity. This method allows personalised learning and guidance, enabling the learners to feel confident about content and speed of learning. The interactive activities are meant to not only motivate migrants to learn the language, its phonetics and morphology, but also to promote a better understanding of the culture and traditions of the host country while at the same time transmitting the cultural heritage of their source countries. In so doing the project contributes to awareness-raising of similarities and differences between cultures and behaviour patterns through language training.
The participants of the Games Club were men from Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh, some of them with the status of asylum seeker. Overall, the group had the following characteristics:
• low level of knowledge of Italian language;
• very low level of integration;
• low educational background.
The partners involved were from:
Austria, Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Spain.
In each Club, the beginning of the piloting was devoted to an ice-breaking activity among the participants and the trainers, to get to know each other, to create an atmosphere of dialogue, trust and friendship, to build groups for the implementation of activities, in addition to increase self-esteem and to identify one’s own relational abilities and resistances.
The methodology used in the Clubs was composed of:
• an introduction of the subjects treated each time;
• an illustration of the specific contents of each Club: games, cooking and recipes, various subjects proposed by trainers and participants for Café Club, from time to time implemented;
• in the Games Club: an explanation of the games and their implementation, in which participants had to use the Italian language;
• the utilization of drawings, pictures, billboards;
• a grammar section, with some exercises for each Club and the specific terms and arguments covered: use and conjugation of verbs, guessing of words, crosswords and a summary of the new terms and the contents of each meeting at the end of the piloting.
Overall, the Language Clubs were highly appreciated relative to their structure, methodology and organization of the meetings.
The practical exercises, in particular simulations, role playing in all the Clubs, the cooperative games, the shopping and cooking activities were very successful relative to the application of the Italian language, the creation of a nice and fun environment and the selfesteem and social participation of the participants. The degree of interaction among the participants was good, with a friendly atmosphere and a high involvement in the meetings.
Both, participants and trainers, appreciated the sharing of their knowledge about different cultures and traditions. All the participants said, above all the women, that the duration of the Clubs was too short and that they wanted to attend other Clubs, as ways to meet other people and to spend some of their free time in enjoyable and creative activities like these, while at the same time increasing the knowledge of the Italian language.
I was one of the trainers of the Games Club working like an expert of cooperative games together two psychologists and psychotherapists, working in the social sector and experts in migration issues. A retired teacher of Italian language and two trainees provided support as volunteers.